THE COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. 455 



some two tumblerfuls of water, and the young too were observed 

 to slake their thirsts. In drinking it does not fill the mouth, and 

 throw back the head like birds, nor does it protrude the tongiie 

 and lap, but puts its mouth to the water, and imbibes like a 

 mammal, the gulping movements of the throat being plainly 

 visible. 



Occasionally the python has been reported at sea, but it is 

 probable that it has drifted thence on a log, or in the current of a 

 flooded river. It shows no special affection for the sea. 



Habits. — In spite of its cat-like pupil the python is very much 

 on the alert during the day time, and very frequently when 

 encountered in its native haunts is found in the act of swallowing 

 some animal captured in broad daylight. On the other hand it is 

 frequently on the move at night, for on many occasions where it 

 has entered a poultry run, its depredations have been committed 

 under cover of darkness. 



Its size, beauty, and placid disposition make it a welcome addi- 

 tion to the snake charmer's stOck-in-trade, so that scarcely a 

 member of the fraternity is without one. It is therefore in India 

 a very familiar creature to everyone. The juggler produces his 

 specimen with some ostentation from a bag or basket, seeking to 

 impress the on-lookers, and he trades upon the public's natural 

 fears, for if one comes forward too close to inspect the creature, it 

 is more than likely that the owner affects the greatest alarm for 

 his safety, as though to foster the belief already prevalent in the 

 assembled throng that it is to him, and him only that the snake 

 is a peacefully inclined and harmless creature. 



The python in all parts of India where there is an attempt at a 

 cold season hibernates, retiring for some months to any convenient 

 retreat, a hollow tree, or hole in a bank, or, in the hills, any 

 natural crypt or cave of convenient size. In Dibrugarh once I 

 found one in February beneath a log on the banks of the 

 Brahmaputra. It was extremely somnolent. Sometimes one 

 hears of several congregating in the same retreat. In the 

 Pioneer (19th February 1906) is an account of six pythons being 

 discovered in a cavity in the bank of a stream in Mysore. One 

 after another was seized and dragged out and all ranged between 10 

 2') 



