BUCEPHALUS CAPENSIS.— Smith.* 
Reptilia. — Plate X. 
E. „p„ viridi-brunneus ,»t vmdi-.ig,,, P»pe «»U 
Li* viridi-nigris vm.gatus ; W>iis m»dib»l*q». p.rt.bus 
Scuta abdominalia, 189 ; squamae sub-caudalcs, 106—106. 
Longitudo corporis cum capite, 3 ped. 5| unc.; caudte, 14 uuc. 
Bucephalus Jardini, Smith , Zoological Journal, vol. iv. p. 442. 
Dispholides L aland ii, Duoemoy, Ann. de Sci. Nat. tom. 26. p. 150. 
Dendrophis Colubrina, Schlegel, riiysion. des Serpens, p. 238, 183 1 . 
Colour.— The upper and lateral parts of the head above the upper lip, 
and the upper parts of the body and tail vary from dark greenish biown to 
greenish black the lower parts of the sides in general more or less vaiie- 
gated with yellow or greenish yellow spots, one spot towaids the ccntie ot 
each scale, with the carina crossing it longitudinally. The upper and lower 
lips, and the under surface of the lower jaw, particularly towaids the angle of 
the mouth, lemon-yellow with an orange or buff tint. The belly and undei 
surface of the tail yellow with narrow transverse dark coloured bais, the 
former is the predominant colour in the majority of specimens met with, and is 
of a tint intermediate between lemon and orange-yellow ; in many examples 
the two colours are nearly in equal proportions, the one being profusely 
mottled with spots of the other. In the specimens in which the narrow bars 
are distinct, each plate, and also each subcaudal scale, have one bar near to 
their hinder edge, and the bars vary in colour from brownish black to greenish 
black ; the margins of the plates and the scales are semi-transparent, and ot 
a dull amber tint. Towards the tip of the tail the subcaudal scales are gene- 
* Havin'* satisfied myself that the four snakes I described many years ago in the Zoological Journal 
as so many distinct species are in reality only varieties of one species, I have here rejected all the specific 
names by which I proposed on that occasion to designate them, and adopted a new one with a view to 
lessen as much as possible the chance of confusion. 
f In some specimens, we find the colour distinctly greenish brown, in others, greenish black or brownish 
black, and in many it is intermediate between these colours. 
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