472 SNAKES OF CEYLON. 



gastric juices, and he found that it required about 48 hours. 

 Inspection of the subsequent excrements showed in one case 

 that a few pieces of egg shell were discharged sixteen days 

 after the experiment. 



In captivity many specimens feed eagerly, and thrive well. 

 Mr. Phipson wrote that those in the Society's rooms " fed 

 freely on rats, birds, and toads." Similarly, Ferguson said 

 those at Trivandrum took large frogs " with avidity." The 

 Rev. C. Leigh wrote to me that one of his captive specimens 

 ate " rats with relish," and two others " took frogs with 

 avidity." On the other hand, Dr. Nicholson speaking of 

 cobras in captivity says : " I have never seen a cobra feed, 

 and I think that unless fed by force he will starve himself to 

 death." This statement coming from such an authority is 

 remarkable, but it would appear from the methods of some 

 professional snakemen that they, too, find some of their 

 specimens difficult to tempt with food, for many carry with 

 them a small natural funnel, which appears to be part of the 

 shaft ot the tibia of a goat, which they insert into some cobras' 

 throats, and into which they break a fowl's egg or pour milk. 



Thirst : Like other snakes it suffers from thirst, specially 

 in the hot weather, and I daresay that many of its intrusions 

 into bathrooms and its lodgment in catch -pits and wells may 

 be accounted for in this manner. I saw one in the possession 

 of a snakeman in Cannanore that dipped its head into a tin 

 of water presented to it and drank greedily ; each gulp being 

 plainly visible in the throat. 



Breeding. — (a) The 8 exes : The cobra seems to show a 

 decided tendency to a social life. Many writers have remarked 

 upon its habit of living in couples, and this is specially true 

 during the breeding season. It appears, however, to seek 

 society apart from sexual impulses, for on one occasion in 

 Rangoon two were brought to me found coiled together 

 beneath a stack of wood, and both proved to be females. On 

 another occasion, also in Rangoon, a Burman dug out a hole 

 where he had seen a snake make good its escape. The result 

 was the discovery of three cobras. Two ot these were males, 

 and one a female which showed ovarian follicles, obviously 

 fertilized and enlarged. This leads one to ask the question 



