140 THE SERPENT-EATING HAMADRTAS. 



furnished with an appendage, which is pointed, and covered with scales, and is about oiie- 

 fourth as long as the head. This appendage is conspicuous, but its use is not very plain. It 

 lives almost wholly in trees, and is nocturnal in its habits, traversing the boughs at night for 

 the purpose of catching the small birds as they sleep, taking their young out of the nest, and 

 preying upon the lizards and geckos which also prowl about the trees by night in search of 

 their insect food. There are two varieties of this beautiful Serpent, one being bright greeii 

 above, with a yellow stripe down each side, and paler below ; while the other is brown, 

 glossed with purple, and without the yellow stripe. This variety is rare. The length of these 

 Snakes rarely exceeds three feet. 



THE DIPSAS and its congeners may be known from the preceding Snakes, which they 

 much resemble in general form, by the large size of the head compared with the extremely 

 delicate and slender neck. The body, too, is much wider in the centre, causing the neck and 

 tail to appear disproportionately small. This Snake is a native of many parts of Asia, and is 

 found in the Philippines. The name Dipsas is derived from a Greek word, signifying thirst, 

 and is given to this Snake because the ancients believed that it was eternally drinking water 

 and eternally thirsty ; and that, to allay in some degree the raging drought, it lay coiled in 

 the scanty springs that rendered the deserts passable. As they considered almost all Serpents 

 to be venomous, and, according to the custom of human nature, feared most the creatures of 

 which they knew least, they fancied that the waters were poisoned by the presence of this 

 dreaded Snake. Lucan, in the Pharsalia, alludes to this idea : 



" And now with fiercer heat the desert glows, 

 And mid-day ^learnings aggravate their woes; 

 When lo! a spring amid the sandy plain 

 Shows its clear mouth to cheer the fainting train. 

 But round the guarded brink, in thick army 

 Dire aspics rolled their congregated way, 

 And thirsting in the midst the horrid Dipsas lay. 

 Blank horror seized their veins, and at the view, 

 Back from the fount the troops recoiling flew." 



The ancient writers also averred that the bite of the Dipsas inoculated the sufferer with its 

 own insatiate thirst, so that the victim either died miserably from drought, or killed himself 

 by continually drinking water. 



The colors of the Dipsas are not brilliant, but are soft and pleasing. The general tint 

 is gray, banded with brown of different shades, sometimes deepening into black. The top 

 of the head is variegated with brown, and a dark streak runs from the eye to the corner of the 

 mouth. 



THE BANDED BTJNGARUS is a native of India, where, from its habits, it is sometimes called 

 the Rock Serpent. The name Bungarus is a most barbarous Latinization of the native word 

 Bungarum-Pamma, which, though not euphonious, has at all events the advantage of being 

 indigenous, and might have been spared the further distortion of being wrested into a sham 

 classical form. In this reptile the head is rather flat and short, and the muzzle is rounded. 

 The upper jaws are furnished with grooved fangs. 



The color of the Banded Bungarus is very variable, but always consists of some light hue, 

 relieved by bands or rings of jetty -black along its length. 



AN allied species, the SERPENT-EATING HAMADRYAS (Hamadryas elaps), is noted for the 

 peculiarity from which it derives its name. It feeds almost wholly on reptiles, devouring the 

 lizards that inhabit the same country, and also living largely on Snakes. Dr. Cantor says of 

 this Serpent that it cannot bear starvation nearly so well as most reptiles, requiring to be fed 

 at least once a month. "Two specimens in my possession were regularly fed by giving them 

 a Serpent, no matter whether venomous or not, every fortnight. As soon as .this food is 

 brought near, the Serpent begins to hiss loudly, and expanding its hood, rises two or three 



