﻿DANGEROUS 
  REPTILES 
  — 
  COCHRAN 
  299 
  

  

  from 
  the 
  partly 
  opened 
  mouth 
  for 
  a 
  distance 
  of 
  2 
  feet. 
  Cobras 
  that 
  

   spit 
  have 
  likewise 
  been 
  reported 
  from 
  the 
  Philippines, 
  the 
  Malay 
  

   Peninsula, 
  Burma, 
  and 
  Ceylon. 
  There 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  no 
  report 
  from 
  

   China 
  or 
  mainland 
  India 
  west 
  of 
  Bengal 
  of 
  a 
  cobra 
  spitting. 
  

  

  The 
  king 
  cobra 
  or 
  hamadryad. 
  

  

  The 
  king 
  cobra 
  (Naja 
  hannah, 
  pi. 
  10, 
  fig. 
  1), 
  largest 
  of 
  all 
  poisonous 
  

   snakes, 
  has 
  been 
  authentically 
  reported 
  as 
  reaching 
  a 
  length 
  of 
  18 
  

   feet 
  4 
  inches. 
  While 
  its 
  anterior 
  ribs 
  are 
  elongated, 
  it 
  cannot 
  spread 
  

   a 
  hood 
  nearly 
  so 
  wide 
  proportionately 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  its 
  smaller 
  relative. 
  

   It 
  feeds 
  almost 
  exclusively 
  upon 
  other 
  snakes 
  and 
  probably 
  ranks 
  first 
  

   as 
  a 
  wholesale 
  destroyer 
  of 
  snakes, 
  taking 
  kraits 
  and 
  smaller 
  cobras 
  

   along 
  with 
  the 
  harmless 
  species. 
  It 
  occurs 
  in 
  eastern 
  India, 
  China, 
  

   and 
  the 
  Philippines, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  the 
  Malay 
  Archipelago. 
  It 
  is 
  diurnal 
  

   and 
  lives 
  in 
  dense 
  jungles 
  near 
  streams, 
  sometimes 
  climbing 
  trees. 
  It 
  

   is 
  said 
  to 
  be 
  fearless 
  and 
  may 
  attack 
  human 
  beings 
  when 
  disturbed. 
  

   It 
  lays 
  from 
  21 
  to 
  33 
  eggs 
  on 
  a 
  pile 
  of 
  leaves, 
  and 
  these 
  eggs 
  are 
  

   guarded 
  by 
  the 
  female. 
  In 
  captivity 
  it 
  displays 
  an 
  intelligence 
  very 
  

   unusual 
  in 
  snakes 
  by 
  learning, 
  after 
  a 
  very 
  few 
  days, 
  not 
  to 
  strike 
  its 
  

   head 
  against 
  the 
  glass 
  of 
  its 
  cage. 
  The 
  color 
  is 
  olive 
  or 
  yellowish 
  

   brown, 
  often 
  with 
  black 
  rings 
  on 
  the 
  body. 
  

  

  The 
  kraits. 
  

  

  The 
  common 
  krait 
  (Bungarus 
  candidus) 
  grows 
  to 
  a 
  maximum 
  

   length 
  of 
  4 
  feet. 
  It 
  is 
  lustrous 
  black 
  or 
  brown 
  above, 
  with 
  narrow 
  

   white 
  bands 
  across 
  the 
  back; 
  below 
  it 
  is 
  pearly 
  white. 
  It 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  

   the 
  most 
  numerous 
  snakes 
  where 
  it 
  occurs 
  and 
  likes 
  to 
  live 
  near 
  

   human 
  dwellings, 
  also 
  in 
  fields 
  or 
  low 
  scrubby 
  jungle 
  near 
  water. 
  Its 
  

   food 
  consists 
  almost 
  entirely 
  of 
  other 
  snakes, 
  occasionally 
  frogs, 
  

   lizards, 
  and 
  small 
  mammals. 
  It 
  is 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  most 
  inoffensive 
  of 
  

   snakes, 
  hiding 
  its 
  head 
  beneath 
  the 
  coils 
  of 
  its 
  body 
  and 
  refusing 
  to 
  

   move 
  when 
  teased. 
  Like 
  the 
  cobra, 
  it 
  lays 
  eggs, 
  6 
  to 
  10 
  in 
  a 
  clutch, 
  

   usually 
  in 
  soft 
  earth. 
  Experiments 
  show 
  that 
  its 
  poison 
  is 
  four 
  to 
  

   five 
  times 
  as 
  virulent 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  cobra. 
  It 
  has 
  a 
  wide 
  distribution 
  ! 
  

   throughout 
  India 
  and 
  the 
  Malay 
  Archipelago 
  to 
  Formosa 
  and 
  south- 
  

   eastern 
  China. 
  Members 
  of 
  this 
  genus 
  can 
  be 
  recognized 
  by 
  their 
  

   ridged 
  backbone, 
  on 
  which 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  row 
  of 
  widened, 
  enlarged 
  scales. 
  

   They 
  are 
  nocturnal 
  in 
  habit. 
  

  

  The 
  banded 
  krait 
  (Bungarus 
  fasciatus, 
  pi. 
  10, 
  fig. 
  2) 
  prefers 
  jungle 
  

   districts. 
  It 
  is 
  ringed 
  with 
  yellow 
  and 
  black 
  bands. 
  It 
  is 
  even 
  more 
  

   sluggish 
  than 
  the 
  common 
  krait. 
  In 
  India 
  the 
  banded 
  krait 
  is 
  re- 
  

   stricted 
  to 
  the 
  northeast, 
  occurring 
  no 
  farther 
  south 
  than 
  the 
  state 
  

   of 
  Hyderabad. 
  The 
  common 
  krait 
  is 
  found 
  throughout 
  peninsular 
  

   India 
  and 
  is 
  the 
  only 
  one 
  south 
  of 
  the 
  Ganges 
  Basin. 
  Their 
  ranges 
  

   overlap 
  in 
  Siam, 
  Burma, 
  the 
  Malay 
  Peninsula, 
  Java 
  and 
  Sumatra. 
  

  

  