ZOOLOGICAL NOTES. US 



POISONOUS LIZARDS, THE BIS-COBRA. 



Editor's Note. — In a letter to Mr. Phipson, Honorary Secretary to the Society, 

 Mr. Ommanney, Under-Secretary to the Government of Bombay, states that 

 in tbe official reports seven deaths in Guzerat are put down as having been 

 caused by a poisonous lizard. He supposes this to be the much-discussed Bis- 

 Cobra, and asks for information concerning it or any other poisoncus lizard, 

 if such a thing exists in this part of the -world. Mr. Phipson replied that " all 

 naturalists are of opinion that no such thing as a poisonous lizard exists in this 

 country. The belief to the contrary is, however, prevalent in India amongst 

 the ignorant classes in country districts, and is doubtless kept up by the 

 snake-charmers and others whose interest it is to foster public credulity in 

 such matters. 



"The word Bis-Cobra is applied to a variety of lizards in different parts of 

 the country, but in all cases where the reptiles have been pointed out by the 

 natives and killed, and sent to mu&eums, they have been at once identified as 

 known species." He adds in a postscript " that according to the highest 

 authority the only lizard the bite of which is known to be poisonous is the 

 Heloderrna of the S. W. States of America and Mexico*" It is doubtful now 

 whether the venom of the Heloderrna is as powerful as has been reported. I 

 believe no authentic case has been known of the death of a human being from 

 its bite, though small animals suffer to a fatal extent* I have never seen any 

 lizard in India like it ; any sort of lizard may be a Bis-Cobra to a native. I once 

 saw a whole Kacheri full of people put to flight by a common garden monitor. 

 From what I remember of the Heloderrna which was presented to the London 

 Gardens by, I thin 1 ', Sir John Lubbock, the nearest approach in form is our 

 Uromastix harchoichii, only flatter, and yellow and black instead of earthy brown, 

 the whole body covered with small tubercles ; a very repulsive looking creature, 

 and capable of giving a severe bite. I believe it killed some small animals : 

 Guinea-pigs and the like. It arrived in a tin box long and narrow, and when 

 this was opened at the end it would not come out, but planted its claws against 

 a ledge at the opening and refused to budge. I think it was Mr. Bartlett him- 

 self who told me that, not believing in its poisonous properties, he caught it by 

 the head and pulled it out. 



R. A. S. 

 ON CONJUGAL INFIDELITY AMONG BIRDS. 



By Mr. W. E. Hart. 



I was interested some weeks ago in reading in the pages of "Nature " several 

 accounts of instances of conjugal infidelity among birds. Curiously enough 

 a somewhat peculiar case came under my own observation shortly afterwards. 

 About the end of April a pair of wild pigeons, in appearance resembling the 

 "blue rock " of England, began to build their nest in my porch on the top of 

 one of the pillars supporting it. One night, before the nest had been com- 

 pleted, the hen bird was attacked in her s'eep by some beast (I suppose a rat) 

 which bit off one of her legs. She did not seem much worse for the loss, but 

 from that time nothing seemed to go right with the nest. It was constantly 

 falling to the ground. On two occasions after an egg had been laid in it. At 



