200 COLUBEIDyi:. 



poisou, it is far more deadly than the \avger B^inr/ams ov the Cobra, 

 the toxicity being at least four times as great as in the latter. All 

 authorities agree in describing the Krait as a quiet and shy snake, 

 rarely biting except in self-defence or \\hen hurt. Most accidents 

 happen through barefooted people treading on these peaceful 

 creatures. Yet more mortality is caused in India by the Krait 

 than by any other snake. 



The food of the Krait consists mainly of other snakes, but 

 lizards, toads, and small mammals are occasionally eaten. The 

 eggs, 6 to 10 in number, are deposited in holes in the ground. 



220. Bungarus flaviceps. 



Eeinh. Vidensk. Selsk. Skrift. x, p. 267, pi. iii, fig. 4 (1843) ; Can- 

 tor, Jom-n. Asiat. Soc. Benoal,xvi, p. 1033 (1847) ; Bouleng. Cat. 

 Sn. iii, p. 371 (1896) ; S. Flower, P. Z. S. 1896, p. 894. 



Me(j(erophisJlamceps, Giinth. llept. Brit. Ind. p. 346 (1864). 



Eostral broader than deep ; frontal as broad as long, or slightly 

 longer than broad, as long as its distance from the end of the 

 snout, siiorter than the parietals ; one prse- and two (rarely three) 

 postoculars ; temporals 1 4- 2 ; 7 upper labials, third and fourth 

 entering the eye. Scales in 13 x-ows, vertebrals strongly enlarged. 

 Ventrais 193-237; anal entire; subcaudals 42-54, partly single, 

 partly double. Black above, with or without a yellow vertebral 

 stripe or a series of yellow dots along the vertebral line ; head red 

 or yellow ; tail, and sometimes posterior part of body, orange-red ; 

 a yellow lateral streak maybe present; belly brown, or yellow with 

 the shields edged with brown. Iris and tongue black. 



Total length 1850 millim.; tail 220. 



Cochinchina, Tenasserim, Malay Peninsula, Sumatra, Borneo, 

 and Java. Throughout the Federated Malay States, and in Penang 

 and the adjacent parts of the mainland, but of rare occurrence. 



This snake combines the structure of a Bungarus with the 

 coloration of a Callophis or AdeniojMs. 



Genus NAIA. 

 Lam-enti, Syn. Kept. p. 90 (1768). 



Poison-fangs followed by one to three small teeth. Head not 

 or but slightly distinct from neck, which is more or less dilatable 

 (expanding into a " hood " supported by the anterior ribs) ; eye 

 moderate, with round pupil ; nostril bet^\ een two nasals and the 

 internasal ; no loreal. Scales smooth, oblique, without pits, in 15 

 to 25 rows (or more on the neck) ; ventrais rounded. Tail 

 laoderate ; subcaudals all or greater part in two rows. 



Southern Asia and Africa. 



