180 JoiUNAL, NATURAL ilLST. iSOClF/rV OF HI AM Vol. I. 



" liood " spread out. This nienaciutj,' attitude however, threatening- 

 as it nia3^ apjiear, usually goes no further, and the snake if left 

 undisturbed, will soon (juieten down and glide away. 1 have never 

 seen a cobra take the offensive, and it will not, I believe, attempt 

 to bite one, unless thoroughl}' angered or actually seized. The 

 accompanying illustrations, of specimens that had been recently 

 caught, were taken upon an open lawn. They were photographed at a 

 distance of from 3 to 4 feet, and are a further testimon5^ I am sure the 

 photographer will not object to my saying so, more to the non- 

 aggressive disposition of the creature, than to his own courage. Adult 

 cobras when met with in their native haunts, generally seek refuge 

 in immediate flight, and disappear into the nearest shelter available. 

 Young ones are more aggressive. They are very alert, inclined to bite 

 readily, and undoubtedl}' more dangerous. 



Cobras live well in captivity and are voracious feeders. Their 

 natural food is small mammals, (chiefly rats), frogs, toads, and some- 

 times other snakes. My own experience with them in captivitj'' is 

 nnusual, in that \A\ey feed almost entirely upon toads. The reason of 

 this is not one of preference, as they will readilv devour dead rats and 

 frogs if placed before them, but simply because the}- are not sufficient, 

 ly quick to catch anything else. Even the slow-hopping toad is not 

 caught with any ease and certainty. I have watched them when 

 feeding on numberless occasions, and also wh«n angered and fighting 

 wdth each other in their cage, and so often do they miss and go 

 wide of the object at which they strike, that they given one the im- 

 pression of having defective sight. Or else they are particularh' 

 clumsy. In dealing with toads they do not attempt' to make any use 

 of their poison, but proceed at once to swal' nv the creature alive. 



Poison. Upon the rare occurrence of cases of cobra bite in 

 Bangkok, I have already I'emarked (No. 1, Vol. I, p. 6). They occur 

 more frequently in the outlying districts, as the records of the Pasteur 

 Institute, during the sliort time in wiiich it has been opened, Avill 

 show. Dr. Robert who is in charge, told me that all that he had seen 

 had occurred at night, and were due to the snake having been acci- 

 dentally trodden upon in the dark. Dr. Yai Sanitwongse also in- 

 forms me, that since the decree has been issued for the destruction of 

 Java weed in this country, quite a number of people have been bitten 

 at Klong llangsit. The snakes, it would a[)pear, during the hot and 



