1881.] Notes on other Reptilia and Amphibia. 211 



from adults, and it is probable that the bands of colour are not persistent 

 in older individuals. 



For the only specimen of this remarkable monitor that I have seen 

 I am indebted to Mr. W. Davison, who obtained it in Tenasserim, and, I 

 believe, in the neighbourhood of Tavoy. The specimen was carefully 

 labelled, but the label, being of paper, has unfortunately become detached. 



There is a Philippine species of Hydrosaurus (H. nuchalis, Gthr. 

 P. Z. S. 1872, p. 145) that has somewhat similar, though much smaller, 

 scales on the nape and back, but it is of course distinguished by the form 

 and position of the nostrils. 



Dkaco t^niopterus. 

 In J. A. S. B., 1878, Vol. XLV1I, Part 2, p. 126, I noticed some 

 specimens from near Tavoy, collected by Mr. Davison, and expressed a 

 slight doubt as to whether they were identical with the typical D. tceniop- 

 terus described by Giinther from Siam (Reptiles Brit. Ind., p. 126). On 

 comparing the Tenasserim specimens with the type in the British Museum, 

 I find they agree very fairly. In the latter the markings on the ' wings' 

 are more distinct and darker ; to see them in the Tenasserim form the wings 

 should be held up against the light and looked through. There is a very 

 small tubercle behind the orbit, and the nuchal crest is too rudimentary to 

 be of any importance. 



Naja tripudians. 



A few snakes collected by Major Biddulph in Gilgit have been pre- 

 sented by him to the British Museum. Amongst them are three specimens 

 of a cobra differing in colour and to some slight extent in structure from 

 any Indian form known to me. 



Of the three specimens two measure 4 feet 5 inches each, both being 

 of precisely the same length, and one specimen is young, being only 1 foot 

 9 inches long. In the two larger specimens, the colour above is uniform 

 dark brown, below white throughout with the exception of a few irregular 

 dusky marks on the ventral scutes chiefly anteriorly and near the tail, the 

 subcaudals being pretty dusky. The smaller specimen is light grey above 

 with rather faint darker cross bands, angularly bent forward in the middle 

 of the back, and rather broader than the interspaces. The lower parts are 

 white with the exception of two dusky bands across the throat as frequent- 

 ly found in Indian cobras. Neither in the adults nor in the young is 

 there any spectacle-mark or ocellus on the back of the neck, but in the 

 young there is a blackish spot with indistinct edges on each side of the 

 neck where the anterior dusky band crosses the ventral shields. 



In the larger specimens there are 23 to 27 longitudinal series of scales 

 on the neck, in the smaller 25 to 27, in all 23 round the middle of the body. 



