56 OPHIDIANS. 
The colors and variegations of this variety vary in different 
places. 
The first variety is olive-green above; shields of the 
head, scales of the neck, and hinder parts of the body and 
tail edged with black; the trunk with numerous oblique 
alternate black and white bands, converging towards the 
head ; lower parts marbled with blackish, or a uniform pale 
greenish color. Habitat, Bengal, Assam, the Malayan Pen- 
insula, and Southern India. 
Second variety is brownish-yellow, of a uniform shade in 
the fore-part ; with scales black, edged posteriorly ; each scale _ 
of the tail with a distinct white and black edged ocellus. 
Found only in the Philippine Islands and in Burmah. 
Third variety is uniform brownish-black ; scales of the 
hinder part of the body and tail somewhat lighter in the 
centre; chin and throat are yellow, but all the remaining 
lower parts are black. This variety is found in Borneo. 
Young snakes of these varieties may often be mistaken for 
other varieties. | 
The H. naja ophiophagus is most common in the damp 
climates of Assam, Bengal, Orissa, and Southern India; 
specimens have been found measuring from 8’ to 14’ in 
length. It is very fierce, and always ready not only to attack, 
but to pursue. The dilatable neck is not wholly peculiar to 
the Cobra, for this is also seen in the Compsosoma radiatum, 
and the Tropidonatus macrophthalmus, both innocuous Colu- 
bers. . 
NN. elaps Bungarus.—In this species there are two varieties 
in India, viz.: the B. Cwruleus or Krait, or Bungarum Pamah, 
and the £6. fasciatus. The Krait, probably, causes more 
sometimes fourteen feet long, found on trees, very poisonous, and very 
beautifully marked. This is the Trigonocephalus Lach. of Dr. Hering. 
