1912] Ditmars: Feeding Habits of Serpents 229 



nature permits economy to be practiced, for in times of scarcity 

 each snake offered is first killed and stuffed to its full capacity with 

 frogs or rats, and thus it is made to equal in bulk and nourishment 

 a half dozen snakes of equal length not treated in this manner. 



Several examples of Naja, representing N. hungarus, N. tripu- 

 dians and the African N. haje have been received at the Reptile House, 

 where examination showed they had been deprived of their fangs by 

 native snake charmers. After such mutilation few poisonous snakes 

 can be induced to feed. Reptiles in th's condition have been kept 

 alive and in vigorous condition, however, by force-feeding them with 

 beaten eggs poured down the throat through a glass funnel after the 

 snake has been grasped by the neck and the body held upright. 



The food of Elaps, the only New World genus of the Elapine 

 serpents has already been noted to consist entirely of other snakes 

 and lizards. The method of feeding is similar to that of the king 

 cobra, though these smaller snakes dipslay less ingenuity in over- 

 powering their prey. It is quickly grasped and worked along in the 

 jaws until the head points down the throat, when swallowing com- 

 mences. Upon cold-blooded prey the poison is slow in taking effect; 

 and, although the fangs may be observed to be repeatedly and vigor- 

 o.usly employed, the subtle fluid appears to aid the snake but little 

 in subduing the quarry, which generally struggles energetically dur- 

 ing the entire swallowing process. 



These snakes will consume serpents of surprising dimensions 

 in proportion to their own length and thickness of body. The writer 

 has observed the Harlequin Snake {E. fulvius) swallowing snakes that 

 were but a few inches shorter than the feeding reptile, and of greater 

 circumference of body. After completing a meal of such proportions, 

 the gorged snake is rendered so rigid of body that it is unable to coil 

 properly, and the skin is so greatly distended that the scales appear 

 as well-separated rows of dots. 



All of the species evince a liking for lizards, and especially the 

 smooth-scaled species of the Family Scincidae. Numerous captive 

 examples of the Harlequin Snake have fed upon the blue-tailed lizard 

 (Eumeces quinquelineatus), while specimens of the large South Amer- 

 ican Coral Snake (E. corallinus) have taken adult specimens of the 

 red-headed lizard {Eumeces quinquelineatus erythrocephalus) fully nine 

 inches in length, and of stout proportions. The lizards show much 

 more susceptibility to the action of the poison than snakes. 



