COLUBRINE GROUP. 
2 II 
presence of eight upper labial shields, of which the fourth and fifth enter the circle 
of the eye. I here are from twenty-five to twenty-seven longitudinal rows of 
scales in the thickest part of the body, and the anal shield is divided. Of the 
numerous variations, there are two which are most constant, the first being the 
typical but laie four-lined race. In this form the ground-colour is brownish grey, 
upon which are usually four black longitudinal stripes, here and there interrupted; 
although these are sometimes replaced by two dark or blood-red lines. On the 
sides are small blackish spots; the under surface of the head and forepart of the 
body is either yellowish white or bright yellow, but each under-shield is marked 
with four or five irregular blackish spots, which become so large posteriorly that 
the whole surface appears steel-blue, the yellow only showing on the edges of the 
shields. In the second variety, or leopard-snake, the ground-colour is mahogany- 
LEOPABD-SNAKE. 
red, mottled on the upper surface with blood-red black-edged spots, which may 
either be arranged in two rows, or coalesce into transverse bands; while on each 
side there is a row of smaller, blackish, crescentic spots alternating with those of 
the back. The range of this species is bounded to the west by the mountains of 
Southern Italy and Sicily, and to the east by Asia; both varieties occurring to¬ 
gether in most districts between these limits, although in Greece and Dalmatia only 
the leopard-snake is known. 
Among the largest of European ophidians is the four-rayed snake (C. quatuor- 
radiatus), which attains a length of between 6 and 7 feet, and is of an olive-brown 
or flesh-coloured hue above, often marked with a pair of longitudinal blackish 
brown stripes, a black line running from the eye to the mouth, and the under- 
parts being straw-yellow. There are, however, many variations from this typical 
coloration ; some specimens being entirely black, while the young generally have 
black crossbands on the head, three rows of large brown spots on the back, the 
