296 THE EEPTILES OF EGYPT. 
Rostral broader than high, but little visible on the upper surface of head ; fronto- 
parietal region in some more or less concave ; internasals rounded anteriorly, much 
shorter and less than half the size of the prefrontals ; frontal as long as or somewhat 
longer than the distance between its anterior border and the end of the snout, its least 
breadth equal to one-third or less of its length and to about one-half of its anterior 
breadth ; parietals as long as or a little shorter than the frontal, longer than broad, 
their posterior borders rounded or slightly divergent ; two or three nasals, rarely one 
partially divided ; one long and narrow loreal ; one praeocular, sometimes partially or 
wholly divided, broadly in contact with the frontal, rarely excluded from it; two 
postoculars, exceptionally three ; 9 upper labials, rarely 8 or 10, the fifth and sixth 
entering the orbital margin, exceptionally the fourth and fifth or the sixth and seventh. 
Anterior chin-shields broader but slightly shorter than the posterior pair, in contact 
with five labials. Scales in 17 rows, rarely 19. Ventrals 162-194; anal 1/1; sub- 
caudals 95-149. 
Either dorsally striped with longitudinal bands of brown and yellow, the stripes in 
some becoming broken up more or less into black spots, or uniformly coloured with 
or without spots. 
In the striped forms two dark brown bands, more or less margined with black, run 
from the nostril, through the eye and along the side of the body, to the extremity of 
the tail ; a similarly coloured band begins as a narrow line on the frontal and gradually 
widening on the nape passes backwards as a broad dorsal band, about 5 scales in 
breadth, narrowing posteriorly and continued on to the tail to its extremity ; the dorsal 
is separated from the dark lateral band of each side by a yellow or yellowish-orange 
band, broader than the lateral band and also prolonged on to the tail ; under surface 
and one or more of the lateral scales of the body and the sides of the head whitish or 
yellowish white ; the outer portion of each ventral with two longitudinal parallel lines 
of blackish spots, the centre of the shields dusky yellowish brown speckled with 
reddish brown ; sides of the head (labials) finely dotted with dark brown, more or less 
streaked with orange-brown ; under surface of the head with numerous dark brown 
small spots. 
In the longitudinally spotted forms the dorsal brown band is reduced to a chain of 
spots running backwards from each parietal along the body to the tail, and separated 
from each other about the middle of the body by five longitudinal lines of paler-coloured 
scales, each spot having an interval of a scale before and behind it; the lateral dark line 
becomes pale, finely and irregularly spotted with black. A dark brown spot on the side 
of each ventral and continued on to the tail; two parallel lines of larger and more irregular 
spots internal to it, separated from each other on the anterior part of the body by a 
yellowish interspace, darker than the rest of the ventrals and becoming spotted as it is 
traced backwards, where it becomes faint. The markings on the head and on its under 
