THE SNAKES OF BANGKOK. 11 
on wet nights, It has a curious habit whe : molested of coiling itself up 
with the head hidden beneath a fold of the body and the tail curled, 
up over its back, somewhat after the manner of a scorpion. This 
attitude to one who does not know it, is highly intimidating, and has 
given rise to its vernacular name, “‘ngu kon khop,”) the snake that 
bites with both ends. The tail is extremely short and blunt, and the 
body being of almost uniform diameter throughout, it is easy for a 
casual observer to mistake one end for the other. To the Malays it is 
known as the “ular dua kepala,” the two-headed snake. It is con- 
sidered highly poisonous, but is, as a matter of fact, a most inoffensive 
creature. J have never yet known one to bite—even when newly 
caught. 
Food. Eels and other snakes. Its appetite is gargantuan. 
It seems to prefer a meal at least as large as itself, if not larger, and 
the manner in which it can pack its food away and appear but little 
bigger afterwards is extraordinary. One | had in captivity, itself 400 
millimetres in length, overcame and devoured a Keel-back (Tropi- 
donotus piscator) of 500 mm. (20 inches), the latter snake being well 
known for its activity and aggressiveness. Another was found having 
just swallowed a water-snake (Homalopsis buccata), the former 780 mm. 
long and the latter 925 mm. Two other specimens were caught in 
the water in the act of swallowing eels, their prey on each occasion 
being several inches longer than themselves.( 1 could quote many 
other instances only a little less voracious. ) 
In captivity it is an uninteresting creature, burrowing at once 
into the soil of its cage, and never re-appearing except under cover of 
darkness. At the same time it would appear to be by no means 
nocturnal in its habits, as the records of its appetite show, all of which 
events took place in broad daylight. 
Length. Boulenger gives it up to 825mm. The largest speci- 
men I have seen measured 865 mm. (34 inches) in total length, the 
tail contributing 15 mm. only. 
Colour (in life). Irridescent black to dark purple-brown, the 
latter colour being found only in adults. The belly is marked with 
a series of dull white or pinkish cross-bands, about as broad as their 
corresponding inter-spaces, and interrupted at the mid-line. In the 
young, another series of narrower bands travels upwards on to the 
