138 



DESCRIPTIONS OF XEW SNAfc^ES, ETC. 



DESCRIPTIONS OE NEW SNAKES 



WITH A SYNOPSIS OF THE GENUS 

 HOPLOCEPHALUS. 



BY 



C. W. DE VIS, M.A. 

 (Bead on the 12th September, 1884). 

 Hoplocephalus sulcans. 



Scale rows 19 or 21 anteriorly ; ventral plates 195-220 ; 

 subcandals 52-57. Rostral low, formintjf a rounded snout ; 

 nasal sliield short ; loreal replaced by postfrontal, nasal, labial 

 and ocular ; upper temporal m contact with both posterior 

 oculars : lower wedged between last two labials ; vertical 

 longer than broad, with parallel exterior sides, an obtuse angle 

 — or nearly straight edge — in front and an acute angle behind ; 

 labials f , the second and third upper ones in contact with the 

 elongated anterior ocular. Head broad in the adult — very dis- 

 tinct from the neck. Habit elongate ; ventral plates keeled on 

 the edge Uniform bluish black or brown above: beneath 

 plumbeous or yellow ; a broad black lunate collar across 

 the nape, produced forwards towards the angle of the mouth 

 and turned up towards the occiput. A black spot between the 

 tips of the occipitals. Postfrontals largely tipped with black: bar 

 like spots on the lips and a elongate blotch on the angle of the 

 upper lip. The space between the collar and the occiput much 

 paler than the rest of the head. 



Locality, Mitchell district, collected by Mr. C. W. de Burgh 

 Birch. 



The group of species with keeled ventrals claims this as a 

 new member : to one of them — pallidiceps — it is not remotely 

 allied. The name was suggested by an observation of Mr. de 

 Burgh Birch that the snake can form its abdomen into a 

 longitudinal furrow. It would be interesting to know whether 

 the keeled ventrals ai e associated with faculty of climbing, as in 

 the tree snakes. 



Hoplocephalus vestigiatus. 



Scale rows 15 anteriorly ; ventral scales 152 ; subcaudals ? 

 Vertical nari'ow, elongate, obtusely angular in fi'ont, the acute 

 angle rounded. Nasal elongate, replacing the loreal. Third 



