484 



BANDED SNAKE. 



Coluber Pethola, C. fusco-ferrugineus fasciis transversis an- 



gustis albidis, abdomine albido. 

 Ferruginous-brown Snake, with narrow transverse whitish 



bands, and whitish abdomen. 

 Coluber Pethola. Lin, Syst, Nat. p. 387. 

 Coluber petalarius. Lin. Syst. Nat. p. 387. Mus. Ad. Frid. 



p. 35. t. g.f. 2 ? 

 Abdominal scuta 20^, subcaudal scales 90, 



Length from two to four feet : colour brown 

 or ferruginous above ; pale or white beneath ; the 

 colour of the upper part being transyersly divided 

 at equidistant intervals by narrow stripes or lines 

 of white running upwards from the abdomen 

 across the back, and thus marking the brown 

 upper part into so many extremely broad zones : 

 head rather small, covered in front with large 

 scales, and marked above by a large, oblong, 

 brown patch : tail of moderate length, tapering 

 to a fine point. This species occasionally varies 

 as to the form of its zones, which in some speci- 

 mens appear rather like rhomboid transverse 

 patches. It is a native of Africa. The C, Peta- 

 larius of the Mus, Ad. Frid. can hardly be Gon»- 

 sidered as a species distinct from this. 



