BLACK AND GREEN MAMBAS. 197 



Their habits vary according to the nature of the country. 

 In those parts of Natal, Zululand, and Transvaal which are 

 covered with forests, and where there is an abundance of food, 

 the Black Mamba rarely leaves the precincts of his leafy home, 

 except for an occasional terrestrial hunting excursion. In 

 sparsely-wooded districts, or where the bush grows in isolated 

 clumps, the Black Mamba scours the neighbourhood for food. 

 It is at these times he is usually observed, for in his retreat 

 amongst the branches of thick-foliaged trees, it requires a keen 

 and practised eye to detect him. In these situations his hiding- 

 place has frequently been revealed to me by the excited chattering 

 of forest birds, intent upon scolding and intimidating him, with 

 a view of getting him to remove his dangerous person from the 

 neighbourhood of their nests. It has not yet been satisfactorily 

 ascertained what shade of colour the young of the green variety 

 of Mamba produces. If the black and the green varieties pair 

 indiscriminately, then it is reasonable to assume the young would 

 vary in colouration, some being dark and others green. However, 

 it has not, to my knowledge, been conclusively shown that the 

 Black Mamba pairs with the Green Mamba, or whether all the 

 green ones are females, 



Mr. W. E. Jones, who collected Mamba venom for research 

 purposes, has frequently seen young Black Mambas from eighteen 

 inches to two feet in length. He says they are innocent, in- 

 offensive Httle creatures, with a fine " bloom " on their tender 

 jet black skins. At this time of hfe they do not seem to realize 

 danger, at least, from the human animal, for they permit one to 

 inspect them closely while they he along a branch intently alert. 

 Doubtless they are prompted by the instinct which impels them 

 to lie immovable with the object of escaping detection. 



A young Black Mamba, eighteen inches long, possesses venom 

 sufficiently strong to kill a large rat in an hour. 



For the first year they grow rapidly, attaining a length of 

 close upon six feet. 



Mr. Jones informs me he has killed Mambas containing eggs 

 in all stages of growth, from the size of a pin's head to an inch 

 and a half in length. The latter size do not number more than a 

 dozen or fourteen. The eggs at this stage show on one side a 

 black patch wliich is the embrj'o in its first stage of foetal 

 development. 



