378 



COLTJBEID^. 



C. Uniform black (sides and under surface of head excepted). 



23 



a. S (Sc. jg ; V. 207 ; Coast of Guinea. 

 0. 60). 



D. Anterior half of body pale brown above and white beneath, 



with blackish annuli, which are broader on the back ; posterior 

 part of body and tail black. 



a. Yg. (Sc. |; V. 208; Gambia. J. MitcheU, Bsii. [P.]. 



0. 70). 



E. Brown above, with small black spots ; uniform yellowish 



beneath. 



a. c? (Sc. ,q ; V. 207 : Oil River. Sir H. H. Johnston 



C. 66). [P-]. 



6. Ad., skin (Sc. 5; V. Shir^ Valley, Brit. 



208 ; 0. 65). C. Africa. 



4. Naia nigricoUis. 



Yipera haje, part., I. Oeoffr. Descr. Egypte, Sept. pi. vii. %. 3 



(1827). 

 Naja nigricollis, Reinh. Vidensh. Selsk. Skrift. x. 1843, p. 269, pi. iii. 



figs. 6-7 ; Socage, Jorn. Sc.Lisb. i. 1866, pp. 51 & 71, pi. i. iig. 4; 



Peters, Mon. Bsrl. Ac. 1867, p. 237 ; Jan, Icon. Qin. 45, pi. i. 



fig. 1 (1874) ; Peters, Peise n. Mossamb. iii. p. 138, pi. xx. figs. 9 



& 10 (1882) ; Mocq. Bull. Soc. Philom. (7) xi. 1887, p. 83 ; Boettg. 



Ber. Sench. Qes. 1888, p. 81 ; Stejneger, Proc. U. S. IS at. Mus. 



xvi. 1893, p. 734; Bouleng. Ann. §• Mag. N. H. (6) xvi. 1895, 



p. 168 ; Socage, Herp. Angola, p. 135 (1895). 



mosaambica, Peters, Mon. Berl. Ac. 1854, p. 625. 



nigricollis, var. crawshayi, Giinth. Proc. Zool. Soc. 1893, p. 620. 



Eye moderate, two fifths to one half the length of the snout in 

 the adult. Eostral once and a half as broad as deep, the portion 

 visible from above measuring one third to one half its distance from 

 the frontal ; internasals as long as or shorter than the prsefrontals, 

 in contact with or narrowly separated from the praeocular ; frontal 

 once and one fifth to twice as long as broad, as broad as or narrower 

 than the supraocular, as long as or shorter than its distance from 

 the end of the snout, shorter than the parietals ; two (rarely one) 

 prse- and three postoculars ; temporals 2 or 3 + 4 or 5 ; six (rarely 

 seven) upper labials, third (or third and fourth) deepest and entering 

 the eye, last longest ; four lower labials in contact with the anterior 

 chin-shields ; posterior chin-shields narrow, as long as or longer 

 than the anterior, and widely separated from each other. 21-29 

 scales across the neck, 17-25 across the middle of the body. 

 Ventrals 183-228 ; anal entire ; subcaudals 55-68. Coloration 

 verj- variable. 



Total length 2000 millim. ; tail 300. 



Africa, from Senegambia and Upper Egypt to Angola and the 

 Transvaal, 



