XIII 



ELAPINAE 



627 



into a hood by the spreading and moving headwards of the ribs. 

 Several species in Southern Asia and in Africa. 



JV. tripudians (the " Cobra "). The coloration varies much. 

 The typical form is yellowish to dark brown with a black and 

 white spectacle-mark on the dorsal side of the hood, and with a 

 large black and white spot on each side of the corresponding 

 under surface. Other specimens are uniform pale brown to 

 blackish grey, without any markings on the hood. The Cobra is 



FIG. 168. Naja tripudians (the Cobra). x i. 



widely distributed, from Transcaspia to China and to the Malay 

 Islands ; in the Himalayas it ascends to about 8000 feet above 

 the level of the sea. Very large specimens are said to attain 

 more than 6 feet in length, but a cobra of 5 feet, inclusive of 

 the tail of 9 inches, is considered large. The Cobra prefers places 

 which afford it a convenient hole to retire into ; for instance, 

 deserted hills of termites, ruins, heaps of stones and stacks 

 of wood, and it has the disagreeable habit, like the harmless 

 Eat-snake, Zamenis mucosus, of making itself at home in inhabited 

 houses, probably attracted by the rats. Its chief food consists 

 of small Vertebrates ; frogs, lizards, rats, occasionally fishes and 



