20 AUSTRALIAN SNAKES. 
AUSTRALIAN GRrounD SNAKE. Ooronella australis. 
Coronella australis, Gnthr., Cat. of Colubr. Snakes, p. 40. 
Scales in 17 rows; abdominal plates? two anal plates; subcaudal 
plates in two series ? total length, 274 inches ; head, $ inch ; tail, 5 inches. 
Above uniform olive, with a few black specks; beneath uniform 
whitish. Longer maxillary tooth not channeled. Body moderate, tail 
moderate, thin, distinct from trunk ; head rather broad and obtuse ; shields 
of crown regular, proportionate ; two nasals, one loreal, one anteorbital, 
raised on the surface of the head, but not reaching the vertical; two 
posterior oculars ; eight upper labials, fourth and fifth narrow and coming 
into the orbit ; one front temporal shield in contact with both postoculars ; 
two others behind; first pair of lower labials forming a suture behind 
the terminal one. Scales moderate, rounded behind, in seventeen rows; 
anal bifid. Above nearly uniform olive, some scales with black tips or black 
tips and black edged; beneath uniformly yellowish. Longer maxillary 
teeth, not grooved, in a continuous row with the anterior ones. The 
typical specimen in the British Museum is described as above. The 
habitat given is “ Australia,” probably the far North; the snake must be 
very rare, as no other specimens have been discovered. 
TROPIDONOTUS, Kuhl. 
Body cylindrical ; head distinct from neck, flat; cleft of mouth 
wide; eye of moderate size, or rather large, with round pupil; nostril 
lateral, between two plates. Shields of the head regular; loreal always 
present. Scales keeled; ventrals rounded, considerably less than 200 in’ 
number; anal bifid; subcaudals two-rowed. Teeth numerous on the jaw 
and on the palate; the anterior in the jaws are always shortest; the 
posterior lengthened, but not grooved. 
AUSTRALIAN TROPIDONOTUS OR FRESH Water SNAKE. Tropidonotus 
picturatus. 
(Plate V, figs. 8 and 8a.) 
Tropidonotus picturatus, Schleg. Ess., t. 12., f. 8, 9; Ginther, Cat. Colubr. Snakes, p. 71. 
Scales in 15 rows; abdominals, 157 to 160; two anal plates; sub- 
caudals, 74/74; total length, 2 to 3 feet. 
Hight upper labials, the fourth and fifth touching the eye; one 
anterior, three posterior oculars. 
