14 OPHIOPHAGUS. 



The first variety is found in Bengal, Assam, the Malayan Peninsula, 

 and Southern India (Fayrer) ; the second in Bengal (Fayrer) ; in the 

 Philippine Islands and perhaps in Bnrmah (Giinther) ; and the third is 

 found in Borneo (Fayrer). 



Giinther says, " Young specimens have a much more varied colora- 

 tion ; they are black, with numerous white, equidistant, narrow cross- 

 bands, descending obliquely backwards ; head with four white cross- 

 bands ; one occupies the extremity of the snout, the second across the 

 posterior frontals, the third across the crown of the head, behind the 

 orbit ; the fourth across the occiput to the angle of the mouth ; the two 

 latter bands are composed of oval spots. In a specimen from the 

 Anamallay Mountains the belly is black, and the white bands extend 

 across, being wider than on the back ; in a second specimen, of which 

 the locality is unknown, the belly is white, each ventral having a 

 blackish margin." 



Though this genus has a wide distribution, it is not frequently met 

 with. It is said to be found in the Andaman and Philippine Islands, 

 Java, Sumatra, Borneo (Giinther), and in New Guinea (Dumeril), 

 Cuttack, in Bengal (Beddome), Rangoon (Fayrer). It is found in the 

 Sunderbunds, and around Calcutta. 



It is, perhaps, the most aggressive of all the Indian Thanatophidia. 

 All the best authorities agree on this point. But it is nevertheless 

 manageable in captivity. As its name implies, it lives, doubtless, as 

 much as practicable, upon snakes. 



For the purposes which this work is intended to subserve, it may be 

 regarded that, with few exceptions, all hooded snakes are poisonous. 

 Sir Joseph Fayrer has noted the dilatable neck " in Compsosoma 

 radiatum, an innocent snake, the neck and much of the whole body 

 dilates vertically when it is excited and about to strike, presenting a 

 very remarkable appearance ;" also " in the Tropidonotus macrophthalmus, 

 an innocent snake, which attains a length of thirty-nine inches, 

 according to Giinther, and is found in Khasya and Sikkim up to 

 4000 feet. It is known by its large eye and dilatable neck" (Fayrer) ; 

 the scales, Giinther says, " show an arrangement very similar to that of 

 the cobra, for which it is frequently taken. All the specimens I have 

 seen show unmistakable signs that their captors considered it best to 



