5. PLECTEUKtrS. 161 



Eye in the ocular shield. No mental groove. A aupraooiilar ; no 

 temporal. Tail compressed, the terminal scute compressed and with 

 two superposed, simple, bifid or trifid points. 



Southern India. 



Syno2}sis of the Species. 



I. Eye not quite half the length of the ocular shield ; terminal 



caudal scute with two superposed simple points. 



Ventrals 152-168 1. perroteti, p. 161. 



Ventrals 180 2. davisonii, p. 162. 



II. Eye half the length of the ocular ; terminal caudal scute with 

 two superposed hi- or tricuspid transverse ridges. 



Ventrals not twice as broad as contiguous 



scales 3. gueniheri, p. 162. 



Ventrals twice as broad as contiguous scales. 4. aureus, p. 162. 



1. Plectrurus perroteti. 



Plectrurus perroteti, Dum. 8f Bibr. vii. p. 167, pi. lix. fig. 4 (1854) ; 

 Gray, Proc. Zool. 8oc. 1858, p. 265 ; Oiinth. Rept. Brit. Ind. p. 193 

 (1864), and Proc. Zool. Sac. 1875, p. 230 ; Jan, Icon. Oen. 1. 9, 

 pi. ii. fig. 7 (1865) ; Theoh. Cat. Rept. Brit. Ind. p. 136 (1876) ; 

 Beddome, Ann. ^ Mag. N. H. (5) xvii. 1886, p. 25 ; Bouleng. 

 Faun. Ind., Rept p. 271 (1890). 



Snout obtuse ; rostral small, the portion visible from above shorter 

 than its distance from the frontal ; nasals in contact ; frontal longer 

 than broad. Eye hardly half the length of the ocular. Diameter 

 of body 30 to 38 times in the total length. 15 scales round the 

 middle of the body, 17 behind the head. Ventrals not quite twice 

 as large as the contiguous scales, 152-168. Subcaudals 7-12. 

 Caudal scales more or less distinctly pluricarinate ; terminal scute 

 with two superposed single points. Brown or purplish, uniform, or 

 each scale edged with darker ; young pale brown, with darker 

 longitudinal lines. 



Total length 330 millim. 



Nilgherries and Anamallays, 4000-8000 feet. 



a-6. d (V. 156 ; 0.12) Nilgherries. T. C. Jerdon, Esq. [P.]. 



& 2 (V. 164 ; 0. 7). 

 c. $ (V. 158 ; C. 8). Nilgherries. Zoological Society. 



d-e. Yg. (V. 161, 168; Kotagiri, Nil- Dr. J. E. Henderson 



0. 8, 8). gharries. [P.]. 



/•-;t. c? (V. 156, 156,152, Anamallays, 4700 W. Davison, Esq. [P.]. 

 ■ 158 ; 0. 10, 11, 11, 10) feet. 



& $ (V. 161 ; C. 7). 

 I, m. § (V. 154, 159 ; Anamallays. Col. Beddome [0.]. 



C 8 7^ 

 w-?.' Yg. (V. 164, 164, 157, Wynad. Col. Beddome [0.1. 



165; C. 8, 8, 9, 10). 

 r, s. 9 (V. 157 ; C. 8) & Malabar. Col. Beddome [0.1. 



yg.(V. 165; 0.11). 



VOL. I. M 



