SNAKES 169 



hood, which is almost invariably banded, is not expansible 

 to nearly so great an extent as in the Indian Cobra. 



The Hamadryad feeds exclusively on snakes, small 

 pythons, kraits, rat-snakes, and the common cobra 

 entering into its bill of fare. 



Captain G. H. Evans, in the Journal of the Bombay 

 Natural History Society, tells the following story, told him 

 by an intelligent Burmese who one day stumbled upon 

 a nest of these serpents and was chased by the female. 

 " The man fled with all speed over hill and dale, till, reach- 

 ing a small river, he plunged in, hoping he had then escaped 

 his fiery enemy ; but, lo ! on reaching the opposite bank, 

 up reared the furious Hamadryad, her eyes glistening with 

 rage, ready to bury her fangs in his trembling body. In 

 utter despair he bethought himself of his turban, and, in 

 a moment, dashed it upon the serpent, which darted upon 

 it like lightning, and for some moments wreaked its 

 vengeance in furious bites." 



The bite of the Hamadryad produces death in man 

 in from one to two hours. According to Nicholson, an 

 elephant which he saw bitten by this snake died within 

 three hours. 



N. melanoleuca and N. nigricollis, both of Tropical 

 Africa, are remarkable for their power of ejecting their 

 poison at a considerable distance, and are consequently 

 both known to the natives as " spitting snakes." 



In the RiNGHALS, Sepedon hcemachates, of South Africa, 

 the only representative of the genus, which is separated 

 from the true cobras by its keeled dorsal scales, the " spit- 

 ting " habit is highly developed, for, when disturbed, the 

 snake invariably sits up, dilates a very large hood, and ejects 



