Zoology.'] 



NATURAL HISTORY OF VICTORIA. 



[Reptiles. 



Plate 23, Fig. 1. 



DIEMENIA SUPERCILIOSA (Fischer). 



The Common Brown Snake. 



[Genus DIEMENIA (Gray). (Sub-kingd. Vertebrata. Class Reptilia. Order Ophidia. 

 Fam. Elapsidae.) 



Gen. Char. — Body and tail moderately stout ; head subquadrate, muzzle blunt. Plates : 

 rostral moderate, vertex plate narrow ; loreal replaced by deflected posterior frontal, anterior 

 ocular, second labial, and posterior nasal ; oculars one, sometimes two, anterior, and two pos- 

 terior ; two nasals with nostril between them. Scales smooth, 15 or 17 rows on back ; sub- 

 caudals in two rows. A row of small, equal, solid teeth behind the grooved fang. Australasia 

 and New Guinea.] 



Description.— Form: body moderately stout, cylindrical; head only mo- 

 derately exceeding- the width of the neck, flat above, sides nearly vertical, con- 

 verging to a narrow, rounded, blunt muzzle. Scales: 17 rows of scales across middle 

 of back, large, flat, rhombic, and smooth; ventral plates, 190 to 216; subcaudals, 

 57 to 73 ; anal plate double. Plates : rostral shield one-fourth broader at base than 

 high, obtuse-angled behind ; anterior frontals small, quadrangular, nearly twice as 

 wide as long ; posterior frontals nearly twice the length of the anterior ones ; vertex 

 plate hexagonal, anterior angle so obtuse as to be scarcely marked, the length 

 equalling the inner sides of the anterior and posterior frontals, the width in front 

 nearly twice the width behind, or about two-thirds of the length. Parietal and 

 occipital shields moderate. Color: color of head and upper part of body and tail 

 nearly uniform olive-brown or warm sepia, with a slight bronze reflection; the lower 

 surface of a lighter tint of pale yellowish-grey, the edges of the scales darker 

 colored, with a glassy lustre ; the anterior part of the belly freckled with pale- 

 brownish spots, the hinder part dotted with grey ; eyes black, with a yellow line 

 round pupil; skin between the scales greyish. "Teeth: 17 small, solid, equal pala- 

 tine teeth on the left side, and 18 on the right in the specimen (Fig. 1); 6 small 

 solid teeth behind the fang on the left side, and 7 on the right in same specimen. 



The following are the numbers of scales in seven specimens counted in the 

 Museum collection : — 





Scales of Back. 



Plates. 



Length. 



Specimens. 



Across 

 Middle. 



Over Base 

 of Tail. 



Abdomen. 



Tail. 



Total. 



Tail. 



1. Young, S. Brighton 



2. Average sp., Heidelberg... 



3. Queenscliff 



4. Murray Downs 



5. Sebastian, Sandhurst 



6. Footscray 



7. Figured PI. 23, fig. 1 



17 

 17 

 17 

 17 

 17 

 17 

 17 



15 

 14 

 15 

 14 

 15 

 14 

 15 



190 

 204 

 197 

 200 

 201 

 206 

 202 



46*46* 



57-57f 



63-63J 



57-57 



73-73 



60-60§ 



62-62 



ft. ins. 

 • 1 10 



4 3 



5 6 

 3 6 



3 6 



4 5 



5 2 



ins. 

 3i 



n 

 ii 



7 

 9 



n 



* Third and fourth subcaudal plates single. t Tip of tail absent. 



§ Second, third, fourth, and fifth single. 



% Four first single. 



[ii] 



