BUCEPHALUS CAPENSIS.—S m it h .*
R e p t il ia .—P la te X.
B. supra viridi-brunneus ant viridi-niger, squamis prope scuta abdominalia flavo-maculatis; infra flavus,
tseniolis viridi-nigris transversis variegatus; labiis mandibuleeque partibus inferioribus pallide flavis.
Scuta abdominalia, 189 ; squamse sub-caudales, 106—106.
Longitudo corporis cum capite, 3 ped. 5 J unc.; caudee, 14 unc.
Bucephalus J ardini, Smith, Zoological Journal, vol. iv. p. 442.
Dispholides Lalandii, Duvernoy, Ann. de Sci. Nat. tom. 26. p. 150.
Dendrophis Colubrina, Schlegel) Physion. des Serpens, p. 238, 1837.
Ooi.ouu;*—* The upper and lateral parts of the head above the upper lip,
and the upper parts of the body and tail vary from dark greenish brown to
greenish black the lower parts of the sides in general more or less variegated
with yellow or greenish yellow spots, one, spot towards the centre of
each scale, with the carina crossing it longitudinally. The upper and lower
lips, and the under surface of the lower jaw, particularly towards the angle of
the mouth, lemon-yellow with an orange or buff tint. The belly and under
surface of the tail yellow with narrow transverse dark coloured bars, the
former is the predominant colour in the majority of specimens met with, and is
of a tint intermediate between lemon and orange-yellow ; in many examples
the two colours are nearly in equal proportions, the one being profusely
mottled with spots of the other. In the specimens in which the narrow bars
are distinct, each plate, and also each subcaudal scale, have one bar near to
their hinder edge, and the bars vary in colour from brownish black to greenish
black ; the margins of the plates and the scales are semi-transparent, and of
a dull amber tint. Towards the tip of the tail the subcaudal scales are gene-
* Having satisfied myself that the four snakes I described many years ago in the Zoological Journal
as so many distinct species are in reality only varieties of one species, I have here rejected all the specific
names by ■ which I proposed on that occasion to designate them, and adopted a new one with a view to
lessen as much as possible the chance of confusion.
f In some specimens, we find the colour distinctly greenish brown, in others, greenish black or brownish
black, and in many it is intermediate between these colours.
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