a 
THE BIS COBRA. ral 
Under the head of Anatidw, I have an important correction to 
take, as a freshly-killed Mallard was lately brought in to me at 
Nagotna. It was in full plumage, bar a few plumes; the curly tail 
feathers were well developed, and after careful examination and 
comparison with Jerdon’s description, there could be no doubt 
about the bird. It is true that tame drakes sometimes assume a 
plumage closely resembling that of their wild ancestors; but these 
can, I think, generally be distinguished by the bill, which is more 
yellow in the domesticated bird, except where the wild blood has 
been very lately renewed by crossing. The proof, however, is 
like that of puddings, in the eating. I instituted autopsy of 
my bird upon that principle, and have no doubt whatever that he 
was a genuine Mallard. his is, perhaps, the most southern record 
ofthe species. “Our only Gannet”’ has been identified as &. cyanops. 
Amongst fishes and reptiles I have no novelty worth recording 
here; but of Molluscs I have received many specimens of Chitons 
and Lingule, 
Krswat. 
THE BIS COBRA. 
By GoW. Vinst, Cos; 
(Read at the Soctety’s Meeting on 4th January, 1888.) 
In that. charming and inimitable little book, “The Tribes on my 
Frontier,’ which delights all who read it,—and of which our 
Society has special reasons to be proud—there is a characteristic 
description of the bis cobra, which will serve admirably as the text 
of the remarks I have to make. ‘But of all things in this earth that 
bite or sting the palm belongs to the bis cobra, a creature whose very 
name seems to indicate that it is twice as bad as the cobra. Though 
known by the terror of its name to Natives and Europeans alike, it 
has never been described in the proceedings of any learned Society, 
nor has it yet received a scientific name. In fact, it occupies much 
the same place in science as the sea serpent, and accurate informa- 
tion regarding it is still a desideratum. The awful deadliness of its 
bite admits of no question, being supported by countless authentic 
instances ; our own old ghorawalla was killed by one. The points on 
which evidence is required are—first, whether there js any such 
animal as the bis cobra; second, whether, if it does exist, it is a 
