162 SNAKES OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



The snakes are small, probably neither species attaining a 

 length of more than two-thirds of a meter. They are probably 

 arboreal in habit. Both species appear to be rare in the Philip- 

 pines: They are absolutely harmless and are very gentle when 

 handled. 



Key to the Philippine species of Liopeltis Fitzinger. 



a\ Nostril between nasal and internasal, which are completely fused in 

 front of nostril; light brownabove with four dark brown, longitudinal 

 lines; yellowish below L. plillippinus (Boettger) (p. 164). 



a\ Nostril in single nasal, completely separated from internasal; olive 

 to light brown above; a black streak behind eye, and a light stripe 

 on outer row of scales ■ L- tricolor (Schlegel) (p. 162). 



LIOPELTIS TRICOLOR (Schlegel) 

 Plate 11, figs. 3 to 5; Plate 19 



Herpetodryas tricolor Schlegel, Phys. Serp. 2 (1837) 187, pi. 6, figs. 



16-18. 

 Cyclophis tricolor Gunther, Cat. Col. Snakes (1858) 121; Proc. Zool. 



Soc. London (1872) 59C-; Stoliczka, Journ. As. Soc. Bengal 42 



(1873) 122. 

 Liopeltis tricolor CoPE, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia (1860) 



559; Jan, Icon. Gen. (1869) 31, pi. 6, fig. 2. 

 Ablabes tricolor Boulenger, Cat. Snakes Brit. Mus. 2 (1894) 281; 



Griffin, Philip. Journ. Sci. § A 4 (1909) 599; § D 6 (1911) 261; 



Taylor, Philip. Journ. Sci. § D 13 (1918) 260. 



Description of species. — (From No. 709, Bureau of Science 

 collection; collected at Iwahig, Palawan, March, 1909, by W. 

 Schultze.) (Adult male.) Head elongate, depressed, its height 

 less than three times diameter of eye ; rostral broader than deep, 

 small, well visible above, the suture with nasal largest, sutures 

 with internasals and with first labials coequal ; internasals rather 

 triangular, pointed anteriorly, longest along their mutual suture, 

 which is about equal to that between prefrontals, not as long as 

 that with nasals ; prefrontals rather large, broader than deep, in 

 contact with 1 or 2 labials, nasal, and preocular, their median 

 suture rather diagonal, leaving left prefrontal, forming a 

 considerable suture with right internasal; frontal elongate, 

 scarcely, if any broader than supraocular, twice as long as wide, 

 slightly longer than its distance to end of snout ; parietals elon- 

 gate, not twice as long as wide, in contact with 2 postoculars ; na- 

 sal elongate, single, separating internasals from labials ; nostril 

 pierced in posterior part; no loreal; a single small preocular; 

 supraoculars twice as long as wide; 2 postoculars, coequal, and 

 nearly equal in size to preocular; temporals 1 + 2, large, elongate, 

 both upper temporals bordering parietals their entire length ; 8 



