NINTH ANNUAL REPORT: 193 
food may be regularly introduced, or left with them, vet in the 
midst of plenty, after fasts lasting from six to ten months, they 
slowly but deliberately starve. Although utterly disregarding 
the presence of food, they evince an interesting desire for water, 
for which they regularly search their cage, and when it is found, 
they drink long and copiously. 
When placed upon the ground, they do not exhibit the aggres- 
siveness of the Cobra, nor do they engage in a constant search 
for a crevice or burrow in which shelter may be sought. Instead, 
the Coral Snake trails blindly forward, head flat to the ground, 
seeking to escape from a danger which to its dull senses is being 
distanced by simply moving, no matter in what direction. Crev- 
ices and other hiding places may be passed unnoticed when but 
a few inches distant. There is no disposition to intimidate the 
enemy by a show of fight ; the dominant idea is to steadily progress 
until the hoped-for security is attained. Upon reaching grass, 
or the like, the snake’s appreciation of its power to employ such 
ground to advantage is immediately noted. With the rapidity 
of a knitting-needle being deftly inserted in various strands, the 
snake literally weaves its way among the blades, at their base, 
and even though the grass be comparatively short, the reptile is 
soon entirely hidden. It moves forward with a nicety that only 
slightly stirs the growth, and the snake’s whereabouts is difficult 
to ascertain. And now, if disturbed in its progress, it quickly 
draws its body into close lateral undulations, and remains motion- 
less, evincing that in this situation the reptile is sufficiently in 
its element to deliberate upon its actions with some display of 
mental power. If, after gliding wildly and aimlessly over a 
smooth area, a Coral Snake comes upon soft, uneven ground, like 
the surface of a ploughed field, its demeanor changes, it intently 
follows every depression to which it comes, roots with its nose 
for soft spots in which to burrow, and usually manages to quickly 
secrete itself. 
Such actions indicate an underground existence, as is indeed 
the fact, and when the writer refers to the Coral Snake as a rep- 
tile of dull mentality as compared with the Cobra, the assertion 
should not be misconstrued as an assertion of entire helplessness 
in defense on the part of the former. We have two animals of 
different environment, one—the Cobra—mentally ready for the 
dangers that must be met by a reptile preying above ground, and 
consequently employing the proper measures to intimidate an 
enemy, but also with sufficient resourcefulness in seeking ade- 
quate shelter. On the other hand, the Coral Snake is a creature 
