THE 3UXGARU3I AXD KB AIT. 



309 



GENUS BUNGARUS. THE BUNG ARUMS AND KRAITS. 



Two kinds of very venomous Snakes, which often reach four feet in length, and which have not 

 the power of enlarging the neck, are found nearly all over India. One can be recognised at once by 

 its ornamentation, which is that of a number of rings alternately steel-blue and bright gamboge- 

 yellow ; by its triangular outline, for there is a ridge on the top over the vertebrae, where there is a line 

 of hexagonal scales ; and by its hard, blunt, bony end to its tail. It is called the Bungarum Pamah.* 

 It is common in Bengal and in Southern India as well as in Burmah, and its bite is very dangerous. 

 It does not erect its head, but lies coiled up in curves, and, when disturbed, jerks itself out like 



BUXGARUS FASCIATUS. 



a spring, but without extending its whole length of body. This Snake is not so common as the Cobra, 

 and is rarer than the other kind about to be noticed. No doubt a great fatality accompanies the 

 bite of its small teeth, although the poison is somewhat long in acting. 



The other kind is called the Krait, or Gedi Paragoodoo,f and it differs much in colour from the 

 Bungarum. It has the lower part of the body of an uniform white colour, and the upper parts are 

 bluish or brownish-black, uniform or with more or less numei-ous very narrow white streaks, not 

 quite as broad as a scale, and generally radiating from a white vertebral spot. The tongue is white, 

 and the iris is black. It sometimes insinuates itself into houses, in the verandah, ball-rooms, or the 

 ledges of doors or jhilmils, into bookcases, cupboards, &c., and in such situations is not unfrequently 

 the cause of fatal accidents. Next to the Cobra it is most destructive to life. 



Australia has several of these poisonous UlapidfK, and some are more venomous than others. Thus, 

 the Grey Diemenia J produces an irritation like that of the sting of a bee, after its bite, but the Brown 

 Snake is very venomous. The Red Capped Snake,|| a common little Snake, is venomous, but does 



* Bungarus fasciatus. t Bungarus cceruleus. Diemenia psammophis. 



Diemenia superciliosa. ]| Brachysoma diadema. 



182 



