THE COMMON INDIAN SNAKES. 253 



this snake. Another favourite haunt is the loose brick work of 

 old wells. The basements of many houses in Cantonments and 

 bazaars can boast a cobra tenant, and it is not surprising therefore 

 that this snake is so frequently encountered inside bath-rooms, 

 and dwelling rooms, besides stables and servant's habitations. 

 Further afield an ant's nest is often a specially favoured resort, 

 or it may be any hole in the ground, or at the basement of a tree 

 .among its roots. It is frequently found near water, and often 

 actually in that element, in which it swims with facility and 

 strength. 



A few cases of cobras climbing trees are reported, the object 

 usually being the plunder of some bird's nest. 



It has been occasionally reported in the sea, perhaps carried 

 thence by rivers in flood time, but sometimes no river being in 

 the vicinity it must have taken to the sea of its own free will. In one 

 instance a four footer is said to have managed to board a man-of- 

 war, viz., the Wellington, lying off the Coast of Ceylon at Aripo.* 

 Another account of the incident f however, says that the sailors 

 saw the snake in the sea swimming vigorously towards the ship, 

 and assailed it so successfully with billets of wood and other 

 missiles that it returned to land. Bassett Smith in this Journal i 

 mentions one fourteen inches long trying to board the flagship 

 .at Trincomalee when lying out about half a mile from land. 



Food. — The cobra feeds principally on rats, frogs, toads, and less 

 frequently on birds and it seems to show no special preference for 

 any of these creatures. Its choice in batrachians is largely 

 determined by their size, the most bulky individuals being appar- 

 ently those most sought after. Thus among frogs it is the bull 

 frog, Rana tigrina, which is most usually victimised, and among 

 toads Jliifo melanostictus, and B. andersoni receive special attention, 

 and internal accommodation. Rats and mice are very frequently 

 taken, and I think there can be no doubt the numbers of these 

 vermine are materially checked by this snake. I was astonished 

 in Bangalore some years back to see with what avidity the captive 

 ■cobra belonging to a juggler, accepted dead mice which he with- 

 drew from his pocket. The man offered them as one would a 

 morsel to a dog and one of his cobras nosed its snout into his hand, 

 and took three mice, swallowing them one after another in a 

 couple of minutes or so. Other creatures are taken as circumstances 

 dictate. The Rev. C. Leigh, S.J., writing from Trichinopoly of 

 his captive specimens told me that after eating two small frogs, 

 and then three middle sized ones, one cobra finally disposed of two 

 squirrels (Sciurus palmarum). Sometimes birds are attacked, and 



* " Ceylon " by an Officer late of the Ceylon Rifles, Vol. II, p. 89. 

 t Tennants' " Ceylon," Vol. I, page 193-4. 

 J Vol. XI, p. 547. 



