THE KING-COBRA. 19 



that the forest haunted by this terrible crea- 

 ture is forsaken by all other animals. Scientists 

 tell us that the Ophiophagus feeds on other snakes 

 hence its name ; but this assertion is disputed 

 by the native shikars of the wild tribes found in 

 the various forest tracts of India, who declare that 

 the chief food of the king-cobra is young monkey, 

 and that to secure this dainty it will lie in wait for 

 days in the branches of the fruit-bearing trees in the 

 forest. Birds, young pigs, deer, and wild dogs are 

 not amiss, and it is only when other food fails that 

 it will feed on its own kind. I have shot a king- 

 cobra thirteen feet long, which had begun to 

 swallow a python eight feet in length. About four 

 feet of the body of the boa had already disappeared 

 down the throat of the Ophiophagus when a charge 

 of No. 6 shot at close range broke the latter 's back. 

 Even then it attempted to show fight, and its 

 efforts to lift its head with four feet of flesh as 

 thick as one's arm still hanging from its jaws, were 

 truly marvellous. 



The natives recognise three kinds of cobras, 

 distinguished by the markings on the head. The 

 common Cobra-di-capello, found about houses and 

 gardens, seldom attains a greater length than six 

 feet. It is marked with a V, or spectacle, on the 

 hood. About the same length, but more rare, 

 being found only in Eastern Bengal and the Sun- 

 derbunds, is the Padma-cobra or lotus-marked 

 Nag. Instead of the V, it has a star or padma 

 mark on the hood. The king-cobra is the rarest 

 of all, only being found in the densest and most 



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