370 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL RI8T. SOCIETY, Vol. XXIV. 



Tinspotted but had a large patch of blood on it. To put the matter beyond 

 doubt I shot this bird, which on examination proved undoubtedly to 

 belong to the above species. 



Tatteksall House, Simla, A. E. JONES. 



14a October 1915. 



No. XXI.— NUMBER OF KOEL'S (E. HONORATAJ EGGS 

 FOUND IN ONE NEST. 



It would be interesting to know what is the largest number of KoeFs eggs 

 found in any one nest of either of its foster-parents. The greatest number 

 that has come under my observation was nine eggs of this species together 

 with four of the foster-parent, i.e., Corvus macrorhynchus. Three female 

 Koels had evidently deposited three eggs each, there being three distinct 

 types. This was at Kanchrapara, near Calcutta, on the 7th of April 1907. 



Tatteksall House, Simla, A. E. JONES. 



lUh October 1915, 



No. XXII.— CATCHING A COBRA WITH BARE HANDS. 



On the 24th September 1915, a cobra about two feet long was observed 

 in a yard in one of the enclosures of the Ghazipur Opium Factory. As 

 snakes of this species are objects of special veneration to Hindus, the coolies 

 employed in the vicinity did not attempt to kill it. The news of the dis- 

 covery of a cobra in this somewhat unusual place filtered to another depart- 

 ment of the Factory in which a man named Ghisan Komhar works. This 

 man is an adept at catching snakes with his naked hands. He was soon on 

 the spot and effected the capture in a few minutes without any apparatus 

 of Skuy kind. He approached the snake and seizing it by the end of the 

 tail gave it a sudden jerk, and then lifted it up by the tail from the ground. 

 The cobra was unable to twist round and bite him. He carried it away to 

 his department and borrowed a penknife from the Assistant in charge and 

 slipping his hand up the body of the snake forced 0]3ea its jaws and broke 

 its fangs. He then wrapped up the now harmless cobra in a piece of cloth 

 and handed it over to his father who is a watchman, to keep until he could 

 take it away. I saw the cobra a few minutes after its capture. It was 

 alive and vigorous and full of fury. The moment the cloth was removed it 

 erected itself and expanded its hood on which was very distinctly visible 

 the characteristic pair of spectacles. It swayed about and struck viciously 

 at its captor hitting him on his bare chest and on his fingers but never 

 inflicting a bite. The capture was witnessed by Mr. Clarke, the Assistant 

 in charge of the department in which the snake was found, and the operation 

 of extracting the fangs was witnessed by Mr. Ward in whose department 

 the snake-catcher works. I was unfortunately not present at these two 

 interesting operations. 



Some years ago Ghisan Komhar captured a cobra about four feet in 

 length with his naked hands to my knowledge. This cobra had wounded 

 a boy who inadvertently came near its hiding place but did not succeed in 

 inflicting a proper bite. The boy recovered. The snake was in such a 

 position that it could not raise its head to strike properly. Hence the boy's 

 lucky escape. 



Ghisan Komhar who lives in Mianpura, a ward of Ghazipur City, is an 

 adept in the perilous art he practises, and has caught many cobras in the 

 manner described above. He told me in reply to questions I put him 

 that he would feed the little snake he had caught about once in eight days 

 and that its food would be one or two small frogs or toads (Mendki) on 

 each occasion. 



