REPTILIAN LIVERIES. 161 



poison, secreted by large glands, is conveyed 

 into the wound inflicted by the bite. It feeds 

 on worms, centipedes, frogs and lizards' eggs. 

 The frogs are paralysed by the poison, before 

 swallowing, as is the case with snakes. Though 

 not so powerful as that of many snakes, the bite 

 of the lizard has been known to produce death 

 in people whom they have bitten. 



A precisely similar plan of warning coloration, 

 rings of black and red, or black and yellow, has 

 been adopted by certain South American snakes of 

 the genus Elaps, whilst the poisonous sea-snakes 

 of the genus Hydrophis and Enhydris, for example, 

 though less brilliant, have adopted a like device 

 dark bands on a lighter ground. Hydrophis 

 obscura has black bars on a yellowish ground; 

 Enhydra bengalensis, black bars on a grey or 

 olive ground. 



That this warning coloration is of use only 

 as a protection against their immediate enemies, 

 there can be no doubt. Indeed, Dr Alcock, F.R.S., 

 of the India Museum, Calcutta, tells me that the 

 sea-eagles seize and devour these snakes with 

 impunity; so that the shore around the coast 

 of Malabar is strewn with the skeletons. This 

 means that the peculiar coloration can have no 

 significance for the eagles, which evidently find 

 this creature neither unpalatable nor dangerous. 



Imitation is said to be the sincerest form of 

 flattery. Sometimes, however, a different motive 

 must be attributed to the imitators. In the cases 

 we are now about to consider, for example, certain 

 perfectly harmless snakes have adopted the livery 

 of the obnoxious species which have just been 

 L 



