qv 
KUNGL. SV. VET. AKADEMIENS HANDLINGAR. BAND 52. N:0 9. 5 
darkbrown; only between the eyes an indistinct blackish cross-bar is to be seen and 
behind this, on the anterior part of the back, a rather undefined black marking. On 
the posterior part of the back, behind the diaphyses of the sacral vertebra, there is 
on both sides a small white crescentic spot, limited bebind by a black longitudinal 
spot. The sides of the body are darkbrown as well, but lighter than the back, with 
the exception of two short black bands, the one above the tympanum, the other above 
the shoulder; under surfaces of this specimen are chestnut brown and densely and 
minutely dotted with light. In the next phase of colour-variation the upper side is 
rather light as well, showing the same brown ground colour as the sides. The dark 
colour is, howewer, still retained in a broad dark band between the eyes, limited 
with light in front, in a W-shaped large spot on the anterior part of the back and 
in some irregular longitudinal lines, more or less broken up into spots. The white 
lumbar spots as in the specimen lately described but larger and red in the middle; 
the dark bands of the sides distinct. Rather near to this specimen comes another 
with the lighter ground colour on all the upper parts densely dotted and marbled 
with black; the longitudinal dorsal bands are broken up into spots, but the bands 
on the sides, the transverse one between the eyes, and the W-shaped spot are still 
retained as well as the lumbar black and white markings. The specimen, represented 
by the figure b, is rather similar to this one, except in having the black spots on 
the back partly obsolete; by this the last mentioned specimen resembles the pre- 
vailing colour-variation, which may be described as follows: The ground colour brown- 
ish grey, a broad dark band between the eves, sharply limited in front by the light 
grey colour of the snout; the posterior margin of this band is uneven and rather 
indistinet; on the anterior part of the back a more or less distinet W-shaped dark 
spot, and on the loins a crescentic white spot, in front and behind margined with 
black; some dark spots may be scattered on the back. The colour of the sides 
resembles that of the back; a black streak above the tympanum, interrupted above 
the axil, extends to the middle of the side. 
The specimen, represented by fig. 1c, has a colour pattern in many points 
dissimilar to those described above, which all of them distinctly resemble each 
other. On the back of this specimen there is a large red space from the anterior 
level of the eyes to the vent, occupying the interorbital space, the eyelids, and the 
whole nuchal region to the shoulder, where it narrows to a broad mesial band, 
broadly margined with black. The specimen figured has traces of the white lumbar 
spots, which, however, are quite absent in another similarly coloured, but more 
brightly red specimen. In all specimens, except the blackish young one and the 
spotted specimen mentioned above, the limbs are uniform brownish grey; in the latter 
also the limbs are dotted with black. Generally, the under surfaces are uniform yellow- 
ish white or yellowish red, but the dark specimens are dirty chocolate brownish below, 
densely and minutely dotted with light. In some of these dark specimens the chin 
is darker than the remaining under parts. 
