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Show 1871.] DR. J. ANDERSON ON INDIAN REPTILES. 175 the lower and hinder parts of the orbit; temporals scale-like; a distinct ridge along the sides of the abdomen; anais sometimes showing a distinct tendency to division. No. Length total. Tail. Ventrals. Caudals. 1 64" 13i" 247 93 2 62f 11* 246 89* 3 60f m 245 99 4 58+. 9* 246 64* 5 42\ 9f 237 108 6 401 8i 249 105 7 34f 7^ 245 104 Nos. 1, 2, and 3, adults ; the head is all black with metallic lustre as far as the occipitals, with or without a short narrow notched band prolonged backwards for about one inch. As age advances, the black appears to involve not only the whole upper surface of the head, but to stretch backwards even beyond the gape. In adolescents the black does not extend in front of the eye, but backwards as a broad temporal band, and it sometimes stretches backwards for about an inch as a narrow vertebral band. In the young specimens from Bhurt-pore and Dholepore, not many miles to the east of Agra, there is a black spot on each shield, a broad interorbital one connected by a short narrow mesial band with a large black spot on each occipital, which are connected with the band at the anterior extremities; a short vertebral band from the occipitals, and confluent behind with the first dorsal spot; a black band through the upper loreal and praeocular, and through the eye from the postoculars to the gape; an interrupted black band through the labials. In adults the ground-colour is uniform bright pinkish red, with a dash of olive-brown, especially on the hinder parts ; under surface rich pinkish ; a dorsal series of round metallic black spots, with two series of longitudinal broken lines of the same colour along the side, sometimes forming round spots with smaller scattered ones between them and the angles of the ventrals on which they also occur. The under surface is sometimes covered with large black spots, but in others it is without any trace of them. In one specimen even the dorsal spots are restricted to one scale, and the ventral spots all but disappear. In one young specimen, N o . 7, the ground-colour was brownish olive, with* a dorsal series of brown spots slightly edged with metallic black. This species is highly characteristic of thedry and rather arid country of the North-west Provinces, where it appears to be not uncommon. Although the rows of scales are only twenty-seven, the prseocular is usually divided into two, and does not invariably reach the vertical; the upper labials vary from nine to thirteen; and the anal in two specimens is distinctly partially divided. There can be no doubt that all of these specimens belong to this species, which appears to * Imperfect. |