AUSTRALIAN SNAKES. 67 
Drszrt Snake. Hoplocephalus minor. 
(Plate VI, fig. 8.) 
Hoplocephalus minor, Giinther, Ann. and Magaz. of Nat. Hist., 3rd Series, vol. XII, p. 862. 
Scales in 15 rows. 
Abdominal plates, 125 to 128. 
One anal plate. 
Subcaudal plates, 54 to 59. 
Total length, from 18 to 24 inches. 
The following is Dr. Giinther’s original description :— 
Scales in fifteen rows; vertical shield not quite twice as long as 
broad; temporals 2-2-2. Uniform olive-brown above, yellowish below. 
This species is similar to H. superbus, but it remains much smaller. 
The head is rather small, of moderate length and width, not depressed. 
The lower of the two anterior temporals is small, smaller than the last 
labial. The chin-shields of the posterior pair are separated from each other 
by scales. Ventral shields, 125-128 (H. superbus, 148-153) ; subcaudals 
fifty-nine in the male, fifty-four in the female. All the lower parts are 
yellowish, each ventral shield having a blackish base. 
An adult (pregnant) female is 173 inches long, the tail measuring 4 
inches. All other British Museum specimens are still smaller, although 
mature. This species inhabits 8. W. Australia, whilst H. superbus proves 
to be a Tasmanian species. 
With regard to the coloration of this snake, it will perhaps be better 
to describe one of the specimens in the Australian Museum collection, as 
they are probably better preserved than those in the British Museum. The 
vertical is about the same size and form as in a young H. superbus, but the 
scales are more imbricated, the outer rows not so large, and the chin-shields 
much more elongate. The head of an adult H. minor is much smaller than 
that of a young H. superbus of the same size, and there is a distinct half 
collar, just behind the head, which is very plain in young specimens; in 
old subjects this mark takes the form of two light spots behind the 
termination of the mouth. The ventrals are black-edged, and the marks 
much broader in the middle. The Museum specimens were obtained by 
Mr. George Masters, at King George’s Sound. 
