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Show 514 CAPT. F. WALL ON SNAKES FROM [Dec. 12, chevrons on the head, the anterior converging in front of the eyes, divergent behind to form postocular streaks, the posteiior converging on the frontal, both often obscure or almost obliterated. In one the belly was sparsely spotted and in another was whitish and unspotted. The young were pinkish-brown or dove-coloured with small black dorsal spots, with an inclination to a transverse distribution; the belly whitish chequered black. One Hondo adult specimen had preserved the peculiar colouring and dorsal spots of the young, but the belly was rosy, as is usual in adults. In this specimen the scales in mid-body counted 23. The example obtained in Tanega Island was a very distinct colour-variety, singularly resembling a Dinodon japonicus at first sight. It was light brown with well-defined black bars, as wide as the intervals. A series of large spots in the flanks alternated with the dorsal bars. The usual head-marks were present and the belly was chequered black and white. 5. C o lub er c l im a co ph o r u s .-All the eleven specimens were obtained from Japan (Hondo). In four specimens the scales were 25 in mid-body, in all the rest 23. The subocular was absent in one. Temporals three in one. Postoculars three on one side in two. Anterior chins touched four infralabials in two. One captured on 6th July contained 14 eggs with no trace of embryo, the largest of which measured 2 " x 1 -^V'• 6. C o lu b er q u a d r iv ir g a tu s .-Of 32 examples, 30 were collected in Japan (Hondo) and two in the Island of Yaku. In one Hondo specimen the supralabials were nine with the fifth and sixth touching the eye on one side. Postoculars three on one side in one specimen. Nearly all belonged to Boulenger's Variety A*. The young were lighter in colour, with well-marked spots or crossbars, but the longitudinal stripes faint or absent. One of the Yaku specimens belonged to Variety B, and the other was intermediate between A and B. Family V i p e r i d a Subfamily C r o t a l in ^ . 7. A ncistrodon b l o m h o f f i i .-Of 41 specimens, 39 were from Japan (Hondo 38, Yezo 1), one from Tanega Island, and one from Yaku Island f. In only one Hondo specimen were the scales 23 in the middle of the body, but this number was present in both the specimens from Tanega and Yaku. The ventrals and subcaudals in the Yaku example were 143 + 53, and in the Tanega example the ventrals were 142. One had eaten a frog. One captured on the 27tli June contained three immature eggs with no trace of embryo. * Op. cit. vol. ii. p. 60. t It is doubtful whether the specimen in the British Museum labelled Okinawa (Boulenger, op. cit. vol. iii. p. 526) is correctly recorded. It appears to be the only specimen reported from the Loo Choo Group o f islands, where it is singularly out o f place. Tsu Sima is an island in the Corean Strait, and not in the Loo Choos as stated by Boulenger on the same page. |
