ZAMENIS RHODORHACHIS. 
253 
Wilkinson in his MS. notes mentions a long thin harmless snake under the name of 
the flyer (^Arabic name " Jear " or " Jeier "), on account of its habit " of bounding from 
rocks or along the sand of the desert to the distance of 12 to 15 feet or more " ! This 
Zamenis and the next species are distinguished by great rapidity of movement and by 
the wonderful way they pass from stone to stone in the desert, so that it has occurred 
to me that one or other of them might be the snake Wilkinson had in view ; but the 
distances he gives were doubtless derived from native sources and grossly exaggerated. 
In the following table I have included some specimens from the Hadramut, Aden, and 
Somaliland, as the numbers of ventrals are in remarkable contrast to those found in the 
two Egyptian specimens. It is noteworthy that in the Somaliland snakes the prevailing 
numbers are low, like those found on the opposite coast of the Straits of Aden. 
Measurements (millim.) and some details ofZ. rhodorhachis, Jan. 1 
Sex. 
Total 
leugth. 
Tail. 
Ven- 
trals. 
Anal. 
Cau- 
dals. 
Scales. 
Upper 
labials. 
Labials 
entering 
orbit. 
Sub- 
oculars. 
Prse- 
oculars. 
Relation 
of 
prteoculars 
to 
frontal. 
(S 
Tem- 
porals. 
a 
Locality. 
2 
870 
250 
262 
1/1 
140 
19 
L.9 
E.9 
5&6 
1 
1 
B.C. 
2 
2 + 2 
1 
Beni Hassan. 
Juv. 
555 
156 
257 
1/1 
154 
19 
9 
4,5,6 

1—1 
B.C. 
2 
2 + 2 
1 
TelelAmarna. 
6 
1010 
226 
1/1 
19 
L. 10 
R.9 
5& 6 
1 
1 
C. 
2 
2 + 3 
1 
Hadramut. 
6 
1167 
297 
227 
1/1 
129 
19 
9 
5&6 
L. 1 
E.0 
1—1 
B.C. 
2 
2 + 3 
1 
„ 
5 
780 
215 
228 
1/1 
125 
19 
9 
5&6 
1 
1 
B.C. 
2 
2 + 3 
1 
„ 
$ 
561 
161 
226 
1/1 
125 
19 
9 
5& 6 
1 
1 
B.C. 
2 
2 + 3 
1 
» 
6 
1068 
262 
231 
1/1 
114 
19 
9 
5&6 
1 
1 
B.C. 
2 
2+2 
1 
Aden. 
? 
Snout 
to 
vent. 
786 
Total 
length. 
221 
1/1 
19 
9 
5& 6 
L. 1 
E.0 
1 
B.C. 
2 
2 + 3 
1 
" 
5 
793 
218 
226 
V 1 
120 
19 
9 
5&6 
1 
1 
B.C. 
2 
2+2 
1 
» 
Juv. 
540 
155 
226 
1/1 
133 
19 
9 
5&6 
1 
1 
B.C. 
2 
2 + 3 
1 
„ 
Juv. 
430 
120 
222 
1/1 
128 
19 
9 
5&6 
1 
1 
B.C. 
2 
2+2 
2+3 
1 
,. 
Juv. 
348 
91 
229 
213 
1/1 
1/1 
127 
118 
19 
19 
9 
5&6 
1 
1 
C. 
2 
2 + 3 
1 
Zaila, Somali- 
land. 
Ogaden 
(Boettger). 
1 Explanation of abbreviations: — L. = Left; R. = Right; B. C. = Broadly in contact; C. = In contact; 
0=Not in contact. 
