204 



THE MALAY PROVINCE 



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trijpudians), which has an even worse reputation, is found as far as the Caspian 

 to the west, and eastward ranges into southern China and the Malay Archipelago. 

 This snake, which preys principally on small reptiles, although also on small 

 mammals and birds, attains in some cases a length of over 6 feet. The giant cobra 

 (N. bungariis), which is more than double that length, is a deadly foe to other 



snakes, and by reason 

 of its greater ferocity 

 is more dangerous than 

 the typical species, al- 

 though fortunately less 

 common. It ranges over 

 the greater part of 

 India, Burma, and the 

 Malay Peninsula. The 

 Indian python {Python 

 f molurus) is a well- 

 . known member of a 

 non - venomous group, 

 distinguished, among 

 ' J, other characters, by the 

 possession of vestiges of 

 \ the hind-limbs and a 



prehensile tail, and is 

 almost entirely confined 

 to the tropics, where it 

 occurs in both hemi- 

 spheres. The Indian 

 species, which attains 

 occasionally a length of 

 over 20 feet, inhabits 

 India, Ceylon, the Malay 

 Peninsula, and Java. 

 The Malay python {P. 

 reticulatus), which 

 ranges from Burma to 

 the Nicobars, and the 

 Malay Peninsula and 

 Islands, is larger, grow- 

 ing to 30 feet. The 

 green whip-snake (Dry- 

 ophis mycterizans), which is likewise poisonous, and sometimes pale brown instead of 

 green, takes its name from the whip-like shape of its body. In length about 5 feet, 

 it lives principally amid bushes and high grass, and ranges over India, Ceylon, and 

 Burma. That striking Indo-Malay snake the banded krait (Bungarus fasciatus) takes 

 its native name of sankni, meaning the " wearer of bracelets," from its alternating 

 bands of black and yellow. The same word reappears in sank (pronounced like the 



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MALAY FLYING-DRAGON. 



