172 DR. J. ANDERSON ON INDIAN REPTILES. [Feb. 21, 



frontal, and thirteen rows of scales would seem to indicate that it is 

 generically distinct from Ablabes. 



Hub. Himalaya (Eastern), not uncommon at elevations varying 

 from 3000 to 7000 feet. 



Coluber porphyraceus, Cantor; Gthr. I.e. p. 239. 



Fresh specimens, in spirit, are a bright brick-red on the sides, 

 slightly darker above. On the posterior two-thirds of the body the 

 cross bands are not darker than the general colour ; and their total 

 number is twenty. This specimen measures 36 inches, of which the 

 tail forms 5| inches. In other individuals, from the same locality 

 as the former, measuring 32f inches, and the tail 5£, the cross 

 bands are distinctly darker than the ground-colour, and are twenty- 

 one in number; but eight of them, in the middle and posterior 

 portion of the body, are reduced to mere lateral spots. In another 

 specimen, measuring 22 inches, of which the tail forms 3f, the 

 colour is brownish olive, and there are twenty-three cross bands, 

 markedly distinct from the general colour of the snake. Eight of 

 the cross bands before the tail are reduced to lateral spots. In 

 these four specimens from Darjeeling Himalaya, from altitudes 

 varying from 3000 to 5000 feet, the following numbers prevail : — 



Veutrals. Caudals. Bands. 

 210 65 17 



208 52 21 



215 69 24 



208 63 19 



Compsosoma reticulars, Cantor ; Gthr. I.e. p. 245. 



Coluber fasciolatus, Blyth, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal, xxii. p. 409. 



Zamenis fasciolatus, Theobald, Cat. Rept. As. Soc. Mus. 1868, 

 p. 53. 



Head not very distinct from neck, long and flat. Snout long and 

 broad, rounded in front ; rostal variable, considerably broader than 

 high, or as high as broad. Anterior frontals subquadrangular or 

 almost triangular, broader than long, less or more than half the size 

 of the posterior frontals ; posterior frontals quadrangular. Vertical 

 longer than the occipital suture ; frontal as broad as or slightly broader 

 than superciliary margin ; occipital margins meeting nearly at a right 

 angle ; superciliary margins moderately convergent, slightly concave 

 in some. Extreme length of occipitals equals vertical and one-third 

 of posterior frontals ; obliquely or nearly transversely truncated or 

 rounded behind. Loreal almost square, or nearly twice as long as 

 broad, with four sides ; the one in contact with the prteocular nearly 

 as long as the one in contact with the second and third labials, the 

 other two sides being about half the size of them. Prseocular large, 

 reaching to the upper surface of the head, but widely separated from 

 the vertical. 



In some specimens from Darjeeling a small portion is separated 

 from the third labial as a supernumerary praeocular. Two first 



