DIONE SNAKE. 



541 



length : colour above pale ferruginous marked by 

 three narrow white hnes, of which that on the 

 back is continued to the top of the snout, where it 

 divides into two streaks : abdomen whitish varie- 

 gated with transverse black bars : head rather 

 large, and, so far as appears from Seba's figure, 

 covered with small scales : native of Guinea. 



DTONE SNAKE. 



Coluber Dione. C. ccerukscens, fusco maculafvs, lineis tribus . 

 albidis. 



Pale blue Snake, spotted with brown, with three whitish lines. 

 Coluber Dione. Lin. Syst. Nat. Gmel. p. II06. Pall. it. 2. 

 p- 717. 



Abdominal scuta 19O, subcaudal scales 66. 



Habit slender : length about two feet : head 

 small, tetragonal, and commonly reticulated with 

 blackish sutures : colour of the whole upper parts 

 pale blue, with three paler or whitish lines, the in- 

 termediate spaces being marked with a row of 

 dusky alternate, and sometimes subconfluent spots 

 or patches : abdomen pale, freckled with minute 

 livid spots interspersed with red specks : tail about 

 a sixth part of the whole length. This species is 

 a native of the salt deserts towards the Caspian 

 sea, and of the hilly regions near the river Irtin, 

 and was first described by Dr. Pallas, 



