AUSTRALIAN SNAKES. 
64 
naked eye), and more or less finely black-dotted. Head darker than the 
body, a whitish band crossing the nape; a second white band, spotted with 
black beneath the eye, from the rostral to the last upper labial. 
In young specimens the ventral scales in the middle of body are red. 
Habitat, Flinders’ Bange, South Australia. Collected by Mr. George 
Masters, who found seven specimens. 
Black-bellied Snake. Hoploceplialus signatus. 
(Plate XII, fig. 5.) 
Hoploceplialus signatus, Jan. 
Scales in 17 rows. 
Abdominal plates, 157. 
Two anal plates. 
Subcaudals in a single series, 51 or more. 
Total length of adult, 24 to 30 inches. 
Head, f inch. 
Tail, 4 inches. 
Body rather elongate and rounded, head and tail slightly distinct 
from trunk, head shields regular, the vertical differing considerably in 
shape in various specimens, six-sided, about as long again as broad, with 
sharp angles in front and behind ; nostril reaching to the top of the snout, 
with a groove on the lower edge ; six upper (and lower) labials, the third 
and fourth coming into the orbit; eye moderate, pupil rounded, with a 
bright brown spot above it. First and second row of scales rather brown; 
skin between the scales black, above uniform dark olive green or brown, 
beneath deep bluish black; the head is generally lighter in color, parti¬ 
cularly towards the snout; a white streak from behind the eye to the side of 
the neck, another from the nasal to the last upper labial; lower lip, chin, 
and part of neck (below) whitish. The ventral plates vary much; the general 
color is bluish black, the outer edges sometimes dotted with grey; in one 
specimen received from Mr. William Bell, M.H.C.S., the ventrals are 
salmon-colored in the middle. 
This species has a wide distribution ; it is mentioned from the neigh¬ 
bourhood of Melbourne, occurs frequently in the southern districts of New 
South Wales, and has been taken in Queensland, near Ipswich, hy Mr. 
Masters. The female produces from fifteen to twenty young. The hite of 
this snake is not dangerous. 
