202 COLUBRId. 



contact with the praeocular ; frontal as long as broad or longer 

 than broad, as long as or a little longer than its distance from the 

 rostral ; one prae- and three postoculars ; temporals 2 + 3 or 3 + 3 ; 

 7 upper labials, third deepest, seventh longest, third and fourth 

 entering the eye. 23 to 29 scales across the neck, 17 to 21 across 

 the body. Ventrals 1G3-200 ; anal entire ; subcaudals 42-75. 

 Tellowish, olive, dark brown, or black above, with or \\ithout a pale 

 or bright yellow U- or O-shaped marking on the hood, sometimes 

 followed by a yellow collar ; sometimes some yellow or orange on 

 the sides of the head and neck ; lower surface of head and neck 

 yellowish white, or bright yellow, usually followed by a black cross- 

 bar, restoE lower parts dark brown or black; sometimes an azygous 

 black spot under the neck, followed by one, two, or three pairs. 



Total length 1830 millim. 



Southern Asia, from Transcaspia to China and tlie Malay 

 Peninsula and Archipelago. 



Although generally distributed, the Cobra does not seem to be 

 so numerous in the Malay Peninsula as in India, Burma, and Siam, 

 yet it is common enough in some parts. According to Eidley 

 (Journ. Str. Br. Asiat. tSoc. 1899, p. 200), the specimens met with 

 in the south of the Peninsula ai'e nearly always inky black, further 

 north they are brown, while in parts of Upper Perak and the ad- 

 jacent districts of the Patani States, they are turmeric yellow. 

 When annoyed, he adds, the Cobra sits up in the well-known 

 manner, and makes a very curious snorting noise, holding its 

 mouth open in the form of a circle and every now and then spitting 

 its poison at its opponent. It never attempts to bite, but spits 

 with great accuracy, at a distance of eight feet. It is nocturnal, 

 and feeds on small mammals, batrachiaus and snakes. A female 

 killed by Captain Plower in Siam contained 19 eggs. 



The poison of the Cobra is very active, and often fatal to man, 

 acting in the first place on the nervous system and then producing 

 asphyxia. It contains a substance the direct action of which 

 prevents the coagulation of blood. 



222. Naia bungarus. 



Hamadnjas hannah, Cautor, Asiat. Res. xix,p. 87, pis. x-xii (1836). 

 Naia bum/arus, Schleg. Phys. Serp. ii, p. 470, pi. xvii, figs. 8 & 9 



(1837) ;' Bouleng. Faun. Brit. Ind., Kept. p. 892 (1890) ; id. Cat. 



Sn. iii, p. 386 (1890) ; S. Flower, P. Z. S. 1899, p. 691. 

 Hamadryas opldophacjus, Cantor, Jouni. Asiat. Soc. Bengal, xvi, 



p. 1037 (1847). 

 Ophiophayus daps, Glinth. Rept. Brit. Ind. p. 341 (1864) ; Fayrer, 



Thanatoph. Ind. pis. vii & viii (1874). 



Malay names, Ular tedong selar ; ulai' hunyet terus (immature). 



Rostral broader than deep, just visible from above; internasal 

 separated from the prteocular ; frontal ouce and one fourth to once 

 and a half as long as broad, as broad as the supraocular, as long 



