42 
AUSTRALIAN SNAKES. 
much larger than the anterior ones, bent down on the sides, and with nasal, 
anterior ocular, and second and third upper labial replacing the loreal; 
belly flat. Dark brown above, a lighter hand just crossing behind the 
occipitals ; side of face and chin much lighter than the other parts of the 
body; belly yellowish; sides of ventrals and lower edge clouded with 
purple grey, forming a series of irregular blotches; each ventral with a 
distinct darkish streak on its loAver edge. Half-grown and sometimes 
adult individuals shew traces of from seventy to seventy-five black rings, 
which in the young snakes are very distinct. The following description is 
applicable to young specimens up to three years old :—Muzzle light brown; 
a black triangular spot covering the region between the eyes and the 
occiput, as far as the hinder margin of the occipitals—this streak is bent 
down on the sides of the face, and behind this dark spot is a white narrow 
streak and another broad dark band reaching down to the edge of the 
labial shields; then follows again a white streak and a second black band, 
but much smaller than the previous one, and so alternately a broader 
brownish and a narrow black band to within an inch of the apical hah of 
the tail; the black bands are occasionally interrupted, leaving a blank on 
the other side of the body; including these interrupted streaks, from 
seventy to eighty may be counted upon body and tail—seventy-five is the 
usual number. The belly, in young and half-growm individuals, is covered 
with yellowish spots, which, at a more mature age, form into the black 
blotches mentioned in the description of the adult. The young found on 
the Lachlan and in other localities to the westward of Sydney are not 
banded. Specimens from Adelaide are also without bands, colored with 
black patches upon head and neck. In a few years these bands and black 
spots disappear, more or less, and the adult snake is generally uniformly 
brown; there are some individuals on the coast, however, in which the 
bands may be traced when full grown. Specimens taken on the Murray 
had no bands or black marks. South Australian and other western 
examples are very dark when adult, sometimes almost black, and the 
abdominal plates covered with dark blotches much more intense in color 
than in the NT. S. Wales specimens. 
The synonymy given above may be relied on. All the snakes of this 
species which Jan and others describe are referable to D. su/perciliosa; and 
a fine series of this snake, in all stages, from the egg upwards, will prove 
this to Museum visitors. 
