392 COLUBEID^. 



nasal in contact with the prseociilar ; frontal as long as its distance 

 from the rostral or a little longer, much shorter than the parietals ; 

 one prcneocular ; three (rarely two) postoculars ; temporals 2 + 3 or 

 2 + 4; upper labials 7, third deepest, seventh longest, third and 

 fourth entering the eye ; 4 lower labials in contact with the ante- 

 rior chin-shields, which are as long as the posterior. 23 to 27 

 scales across the " neck," 19 to 23 across the middle of the 

 body. Ventrals 170-206 ; anal entire ; subcaudals 49-75. The 

 colour varies extremely : upper parts greyish, brown, or black, 

 with or without a spectacle- or loop-shaped black light-edged 

 niai'kiiig on the neck, or with light spots or cross bands on the 

 body; whitish, brown, or blackish beneath, sometimes with black 

 cross bands on the anterior part of the body. 



The largest specimen in the British Museum measures 6 feet 

 4 inches, the tail one foot. 



The Cobra or Naga is the best known and most deadly snake of 

 India. Its habit of expanding the neck when irritated gives it a 

 most peculiar appearance, with which everyone interested in 

 natural history is familiar. It is the snake usually exhibited by 

 Snake-charmers. It is found all over India and Ceylon, Burma, 

 tlie Andamans, Southern China, Indo-China, and the Malay Penin- 

 sula and Archipelago ; in the Himalayas it extends to an altitude 

 of 80u0 feet ; to the west it ranges to Afghanistan, North-eastern 

 Persia and Southern Turkestan, as far as the eastern coast of the 

 Caspian Sea. 



486. Naia bimgarus. 



Naia bimg-arus, Schleg. Fhys. Serp. ii, p. 476, pi. xvii, figs. 8 & 9; 



Schley. $)• Miill. Verh. Overz. Bez. Nederl. Ind., Rept. p. 71, pi. x. 

 Ilamadryas haunali, Cantor, As. Res. xix, 1836, p. 87, pis. x-xii. 

 Hamaclryas ophiophagus. Cantor, P. Z. S. 1838, p. 73, 1839, p. 32 ; 



nl. J. A. S. B. xvi, 1847, p. 1037. 

 Naia vittata, Elliot, Madras Joarn. L. S. xi, 1840, p. 39, pi. i. 

 Trimeresurus opliiopbagus, part., Dum. Sj- Bibr, JSrjh Gen- vii, 



p. 1245. 

 Ilamadryas elaps, Gilnth. Cat. Col. Sn. p. 219*. 

 Trhneresurus buiigariis, Jan, Rev. et May. Zool. 1859, p. 129 ; id. 



Icon. Oplrid. 44, pi. iv. 

 Opbiophagus elaps, Giinth. Rept. B. I. p. 341 ; Ajiders. P. Z. 8. 1871, 



p. 188 ; Stoliczka, J. A. 8. B. x.xxix, 1870, pt. 2, p. 210, pi. xi, 



iiir. 7 ; Fai/rer, Thatiatoph. pis. vii & viii. 

 Naj'a elaps, T/icob. Cat. p. 209. s 



Rostral much broader than deep, visible from above ; internasal 

 separated from the pra)ocular ; frontal nearly as long as its 

 distance from the end of the snout, much shorter than the parietals, 

 which are followed by a pair of large shields ; one pra^ocular 

 (rarely two) ; three postoculars ; temporals 2 + 2 ; upper labials 7, 

 third deepest, seventh longest, third and fourth entering the eye ; 



* Xaia elaps, Schleg., = Diemenia ikakcka, Lesson, as pointed out by Jan 

 in 1859, and again in 1878 by Peters and Doria. 



