348 COMMON REPTILES OF AN INDIAN GARDEN 



tained a large colony of mungooses, who were 

 constantly prowling around in search of prey. They 

 certainly destroyed many birds and eggs, but their 

 presence had the good effect of keeping the place 

 very free of snakes in spite of the thickets and over- 

 grown shrubberies in which it abounded, and, 

 although it was only separated from a large and 

 neglected village by a hedge and dry ditch. So 

 much so was this the case that none of the four 

 or five dogs, who were constantly running loose and 

 hunting in the coverts, ever met with an accident. 

 Indeed, only once did they encounter a cobra, and 

 then they drove it into the midst of a lawn-tennis 

 party, so that they were prevented from coming into 

 close quarters with it before any mishap had taken 

 place. 



There are many very distinct varieties of cobras, 

 most of them provided with different vernacular 

 names. The commonest features distinguishing 

 them are merely differences in colouring, but in 

 some cases these ,are accompanied by characteristic 

 variations in the form and size of the hood. The 

 marking in the latter often departs very greatly from 

 that ordinarily represented in pictures, which seem 

 almost invariably to represent the characteristics of 

 the pale- coloured snakes usually met with in the 

 hands of the professional charmers. A large ochre- 

 ous or cream-coloured cobra is a most beautiful 

 creature when sitting up with its spectacled hood 



