54 THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF INDIA. 



Colour. — Greenish variegated with blackish, or dark blackish- 

 green. BoTilenger says olive, yellowish or reddish-brown. Flanks 

 coarsely dappled with buff. Belly greenish or yellowish. 

 GROUP 5— PITLESS VIPERS. 



Identification. — (-?) 2'aiZ round. (2) Snout and crown covered 

 with small scales simila/r to those on the bach of the hody* (see fig. 37). 

 (5) Only a part of the last row of costals is visible on either side of the 

 ventrals ivhen the specimen is laid on to its hack (see fig. 5). (4) No 

 loreal pit. 



This group includes 6 species referable to 4 genera. They may 

 be identified as follows : — 



A. Shields beneath tail similar to those beneath 



beUy (see SC, Fig. 9 B) Echis carinata. 



B. ■ Shields beneath tail divided (see SC, Fig. 9 D). 



(a) Ventrals with 2 ridges (see V, Fig. 



37) Eristocophis mcmahoni. 



(b) Ventrals not ridged. 



(a}) No horn above eye. 



Scales 27 to 33 in midbody 3 

 chains of large spots, one along 

 spine, and one on each side . . Vipera russelli. , 

 Scales 23 to 27, 1 chain of spots 



along spine, none on the sides.. „ lebetina. 



(b^) A horn-like appendage above 

 the eye. Scales 23 to 25 in 



midbody. Tseudocerastes persicus. 



(c') Two horns above the eye. Scales 



21 in midbody „ bicornis. 



ECHIS CARINATA-The Saw-scaied Viper. 



The "Kuppur" of Sind. "Phoorsa" of the Bombay Presidency 

 " Afai " about Delhi. The " Kallu havoo " of Mysore. " Kattu 

 virian " about Madras ; and the " Horatta pam, " according to 

 Russell, on the Coromandel Coast. Dr. C. A. Owen tells me it is 

 called " phissi " in the Jhelum District. 



Identification. — The undivided state of the shields beneath the 

 tail will admit of no confusion with others of this group. 



iSupplementary characters. — Siipraocular not divided. Nasal 

 touches the rostral and the 1st supralabial. Eye. — Diameter exceeds 



* A few harmless snakes have the snout covered with small scales — for instance 

 the Genus Eryx. Hvpistes too may be included with these. In all these, two or 

 often many more rows of costals are visible from beneath (see Fig. 3). 



