THE POISONOUS SNAKES OF INDIA. 



33 



(N. Siam). These hues are uniform, or more or less variegated. The 

 hood may be without marks, or adorned with a spectacle-like device, or 

 an oval spot surrounded by an ellipse or various modifications of these. 



ITAIA BT71T&^B.US— The Hamadryad or Zing Cobra. 



Identification. — A pair of large shields are in contact luith one another, 

 behind the parietals [see Oc, fig. 18), and this alone will serve to 

 distinguish this from every other snake.* Even if the head is badly 

 mutilated I think this feature will be made out. In case, however, the 

 point is dubious, the snake will be known by the existence of the 

 following 2 characters which must co -exist. The shields under the base of 

 the tail are entire, whilst those towards the extremity are divided, and the 

 vertebral row of scales is similar in size and shape to the adjacent rows. 



A 



B 



Fig. 18~ Naia bungarus (§ nat. size). 



Supplementary characters. — Prcefrontals touch the internasal, poste- 

 rior nasal, prgeocular, supraocular, and frontal. Temporals 2, the 

 lower touching the 5th, 6th and 7th supralabials. Supralabials 7. Ante- 

 rior sublinguals touch 4 infralabials. Posterior sublinguals touch the 4th 

 and 5th infralabials. Infralabials. — The 5th is the largest of the series 



* In almost every other snake the parietals are sacceeded by small scales, and in the rare 

 exceptions where occipitals are present, they do not touch one another {fee Oc, fig. 13). 



