10. TROPIDONOTUS. 227 



above ; nostrils directed upwards ; internasals narrow, shorter than 

 the prsefrontals ; frontal twice as long as broad, longer than its 

 distance from the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals ; loreal 

 longer than deep ; one prae- and two postooulars ; temporals 1 + 2 ; 

 eight upper labials, fourth and fifth entering the eye ; four lower 

 labials in contact with the anterior chin-shields, which are shorter 

 than the posterior. Scales perfectly smooth, in 19 rows. Ventrals 

 175 ; anal entire ; subcaudals 76. Black, ventrals and subcaudals 

 yellowish on the sides. 



Total length 850 millim. ; tail 200. 



Africa ? 



a. cj (V. 176 ; 0. 76). ? Chatham Museum. (Type.) 



27. Tropidonotus olivaceus. 



Coronella olivacea, Peters, Mon. Berl. Ac. 1854, p. 622 ; Giinth. Cat. 



p. 39 (1858) ; Socage, Jam. Sc. Lisb. i. 1866, p. 66; Peters, Reise 



n. Mossamh. iii. p. 114, pi. xvii. fig. 1 (1882) ; Mocquard, Bull. 



Soc. Philom. (7) xi. 1887, p. 66, and Mini. Cent. 8oc. Philom. 1888, 



p. 128. 

 (Meizodon) dumerilii, Giinth. Proc. Zool. Soc. I860, p. 429, 



fig- 

 Enicoguathua punctatostriatus, Jan, Arch. Zool.Anat. Phys. ii. 1863, 



p. 278, and Icon. Gin. 16, pi. iv. fig. 4 (1866). 

 Neusterophis atratus, Peters, Mon. Berl. Ac. 1877, p. 614, pi. — . 



fig. 1 ; Gunth. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1888, p. 51. 

 Coronella (Mizodon) olivacea, Boettg. Ber. Senckenb. Ges, 1888, 



p. 48. 



Eye moderate. Eostral a little broader than deep, visible from 

 above ; internasals as long as broad, as long as or a little shorter 

 than the prsefrontals ; frontal once and two thirds to twice as long 

 as broad, longer than its distance from the end of the snout, 

 shorter than the parietals ; loreal as long as deep or deeper than 

 long; one (rarely two) prse- and three (exceptionally two) post- 

 oculars ; temporals l-j-2; eight upper labials, fourth and fifth 

 entering the eye ; four or five lower labials in contact with the 

 anterior chin-.shields, which are shorter than the posterior. Scales 

 in 19 rows. Ventrals 131-149 ; anal divided ; subcaudals 55-85. 

 Olive or brown above, with a more or less distinct darker vertebral 

 band, four or five scales wide, bordered on each side by a series of 

 whitish dots ; flanks and ends of ventrals olive ; upper lip yellowish, 

 the sutures between the shields black; ventrals yellowish, some- 

 times edged with olive. 



Total length 580 millim. ; tail 145. 



Tropical Africa. 



a-b c cJ (V. 188; C. ?), South of Ohartoum. Consul Petherick 

 $ (V. 136; 0. 59), [C] 



;yg.(V.131; C.71). 



a2 



