24 Records of the Indian Museum. [Voi,. XXIV, 



subequal to the last labial. Supralabials usually 7 (sometimes 8). 

 None touching the eye ; 7th as long as the three preceding shields. 

 Mental not touching the anterior sublinguals. Costals in 15 rows 

 in the whole body length, not keeled. Vertebrals not enlarged. 

 Ventrals 136 to 159. Subcaudals 31 to 50. 



Eye. Diameter subequal to the supraocular, equal to or rather 

 less than distance to lip. 



Distribution. Burma, Tenasserim (No. 4870, Ind. Mus). 

 Siam, Cochin China, S. China and coastal Islands. 



Amblycephalus macularius (Theobald). 



A. macularius, Boulenger, Cat. Ill, p. 444, Sclater, List. Sn. Ind. Mus. 



1891, p. 67 ; Wall, Rec. Ind. Mus. 1909, p. 149. 

 A. modestus, Boulenger, Cat. Ill, p. 444,' Sclater, List.Sn. Ind Mus. 



1891, p. 66. 

 .4. andersoni, Boulenger, Cat. Ill, p. 444: J. Bomb. N.H.S. XVI, p. 



235 ; Wall and Evans, J. Bomb. N.H.S. XIII, p. 61 1 ; Wall, J. Bomb. 



N.H.S. XVIII, p. 783. 



Colour. Dorsally densely mottled with very fine specks of 

 purplish-brown, with several small round whitish, or parti-coloured 

 whitish and purplish spots interspersed. Ventrally beautifully 

 dappled with purplish-black and white, especially lateral^. Head 

 uniform blackish-purple with speckling on the upper lip. 



A female specimen sent to me from the Southern Shan States 

 is very dark, and has no small round white or parti-coloured spots. 

 Another from the same locality in the Bombay collection (ven- 

 trals 16 r, subcaudals 42) is uniform in colouration like the type 

 of A. modestus. - . 



Length. The largest I have seen measured 483 mm. (1 foot, 

 7 inches) in length. 



Habits. Captain Venning wrote when sending me a specimen 

 from Kalaw, that it was found at dusk clinging to the tops of 

 some rank grass. 



Food. As far as I am aware no observations have been made. 



Breeding. Captain Venning's specimen, just alluded to. was 

 a gravid female. It was killed on the 9th of June, 1913, and con- 

 tained six large eggs. 



Lepidosis. Praefrontal touching the eye. Frontal hexagonal 

 in shape. Length much greater than the snout, three-seconds to 

 four-thirds its breadth, rather shorter than the parietals. Supra- 

 oculars three-fourths, to equal to, the praefrontals, half to three- 

 fifths the frontal, about two-fifths the parietals. Loreal not touch- 

 ing the eye. Praeocular usually one. (In specimen No. 8024 

 in the Indian Museum it is confluent with the praefrontal). Post- 

 ocular usually one. (In the type of 'modestus it is confluent with 

 the supraocular on the left side, normal on the right.) Stib- 

 oculars usually one ciescentic shield. (In the type of modestus, 

 and in specimens Nos. 8025 and 8026 in the Indian Museum it is 

 divided into two.) Temporals very variable. One or two ante- 

 riorly. (In the type of modestus the upper appears to be con- 



