Mr. J. E. Gray on three new Genera and Species of Snakes. 247 



side of the occiput, and an oblique streak on each side of the 

 neck, and four or six spots forming cross bands on the front of 

 the body black, a broad brown streak on the sides of the hinder 

 part of the body. 



Inhab. Ceylon. Presented by R. Templeton, Esq. 



2. Alopecophis. — Head rather elongated, somewhat flattened 

 on the sides ; crown flat, shielded, frontal plates four ; anterior mo- 

 derate between the nasals, slightly bent down on the side, hinder 

 large, broad, bent down on the side; vertebral broad, narrower 

 behind ; superciliary large, broader behind ; occipital large, sub- 

 trigonal ; nostril lateral between two nearly equal plates ; loreal 

 plate elongate, narrow ; anterior ocular very large, subtrigonal, 

 the upper edge forming part of the crown ; posterior oculars two, 

 the upper large, the lower very small ; temporal shields elongate, 

 the two upper edging the occipital plate; rostral shield very 

 broad, rather low, convex above ; labial of both jaws similar, mo- 

 derate and rather high, sixth and seventh upper rather larger, 

 under and forming the lower edge of the orbit, the tenth rather 

 elongate ; chin shield two pair, hinder smaller. Eyes rather 

 large, pupil round. Body rather compressed ; back rounded be- 

 neath flattened ; scales lanceolate, imbricate, smooth ; ventral 

 shield rather broad, flat, angularly bent up on the side. Tail 

 about one-third the length of the body, slender, tapering, sub- 

 trigonal, flat beneath, subcaudal plate two-rowed. 



This genus chiefly differs from the former in the elongated 

 form of the loreal, the height of the anterior ocular, the two pos- 

 terior oculars, and in the greater equality in the labial shields. 



Alopecophis chalybeus. — Purplish brown, edge of the scales 

 rather darker ; lips and beneath paler, with a very narrow rather 

 darker line along the upper edge of the upper labial shields. 



Inhab. Mauritius. 



The third genus belongs to the tribe Elapsince, and is one of 

 the largest and most beautiful-coloured of that deadly tribe. 



3. MEGiEROPHis. — Head small, scarcely wider than the body, 

 rounded in front ; crown flat ; nostrils large, open, lateral. Eyes 

 lateral, large ; loreal shield none ; fangs distinct, maxillary teeth 

 few. Body triangular ; scales of the sides elongate, six-sided, in 

 oblique series five in each, of the vertebral series very broad, 

 transverse ; subcaudal plate entire. 



This genus has the scaling of Bungarus and the small head of 

 Naja and Elaps. 



Megarophis formosus. — Bluish black; head, under side, tail, a 

 spot on each vertebral scale, and the upper edge of the lower 

 series of scales yellow. 



Inhab. Borneo. Presented to the British Museum by Sir 

 James Brooke. 



