119 



CALA MARIA .—Boie. 



Genus Calamaria. — Characters. Head small, hardly distinct from the body; 

 mouth small; eyes minute; frontal plates lengthened to form part of the orbit; 

 nasal plates two; no loral, but anterior frontal in some descends to labial; body 

 small, and nearly of equal thickness throughout; tail very short. 



CALAMARIA ELAFSOIBEA—Holbrook. 



Plate XXVIII. 



Characters. Head small, size of the neck; body scarlet, surrounded by black 

 rings, in the centre of which is a smaller Avhite ring; no loral plate. PI. 170. 

 So. 38. 



Description. The head is small and like that of the Elaps fulvius, and not 

 very distinct from the body; it is short, Avith the snout rounded. The vertical 

 plate is triangular and elongated, with the basis directed forwards and the apex 

 backwards. The superior orbital are nearly quadrilateral, pointed anteriorly, and 

 do not project much externally. The occipital plates are oblong, their inner 

 margins straight, their outer margins rounded, broadest in front, and joined to 

 the vertical and superior orbital plates. There are two temporal plates, small, 

 nearly of the same size, and quadrilateral in shape. The frontal plates are 

 pentagonal and broad internally, but pointed externally, where they descend to 

 join the labial plates, as there is no loral; the anterior frontal are small, and 

 nearly quadrilateral. The nasal plates are two in number, nearly quadrilateral, 



