40 



ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY r.ri.LKTIN 



TEXAS RATTLESNAKE. 

 Crottilus adainntitcHS atrox. 



NOTEWORTHY NEW REPTILES. 



Since the beginning of the present year, 

 many interesting specimens have been added 

 to the collection in the Reptile House. Among 

 tliese arrivals, the majority of which are new 

 to the Park, are three specimens of the Indian 

 Cobra-de-Capello, a huge Ceylonese Monitor, 

 a Python over twenty feet long, one Florida 

 and two Cuban Crocodiles and a number of 

 Rattlesnakes, the latter constituting a thor- 

 oughly representative collection of the group. 



The Cobras arrived unexpectedly. While 

 visiting the establishments of the animal deal- 

 ers, the writer discovered them. Packed in 

 small, tight boxes, these interesting creatures, 

 for which the New York Zoological Society 

 has been searching and writing since the open- 

 ing of the Reptile House, were in miserable 

 condition for want of water, and would have 

 died in a few days. They were hurriedly 

 shipped to the Park, where careful treatment 

 effected a transformation. Within two days' 

 time after their arrival, they divested them- 



selves of old skins, and appeared in scintillat- 

 ing coats of yellow and black. The antics of 

 these snakes, as they rear from the ground 

 and spread their " hoods," has been a constant 

 source of interest to visitors. At the present 

 time they constitute the only specimens of the 

 .Spectacled Cobra alive in this country. The 

 reputation of this snake is world-renowned, 

 owing to the terrible loss of human life from 

 it in India. Sir Joseph Fayrer estimates the 

 loss of life from the Cobra, in India, to aver- 

 age 20,000 every year. 



One of the finest and most interesting speci- 

 mens in the Reptile House is the big Monitor, 

 or " Kabra Goya." This huge lizard is spe- 

 cially fond of eggs, which it swallows entire. 

 A dozen eggs constitute a meal, and so quick- 

 ly are they tossed down the greedy throat, 

 that they may be heard to click together in 

 the process. Without doubt, the Monitor rep- 

 resents the highest development and intelli- 

 gence in the lizards. It attains the largest 



