472 SNAKES OP tIEYLON. 



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

 Inspection of thc^ subsequent excrements showed in one case 

 that a fo\\ pieces of egg shell «c'ie discharged sixteen days 

 after the t^xpt^riniont. 



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 statenw^irt coming from such an authority is 

 remarlvable, but it would appear from the methods of some 

 professional snakenien that they, too, find some of their 

 speeimens dilHeult to tempt wdth food, foi' many carry with 

 them a small natural funnel, which apjx^ars to be part of the 

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

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



Tli'nsl : Jjike other snak<'s it suffei's from thirst, specially 

 in the hot ^v■eather, and I daiesa.y that many of its intrusions 

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

 be account(-d 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 (o it and diank greedily ; each gulp being 

 plainly visil>l<' in the throat. 



Breeding. — (a) T'he Sexes : The (-obra seems to show a 

 decided tendency to a social lif(\ Many \vi iters havc^ remarked 

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

 during the bi-eedijit; season. ]t appears, however, to seek 

 society apart from sexual impulses, for on one occasion in 

 Rangoon two W(^]c 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 cobias. Two of these wore males, 

 and one a female which showed ovarian follicles, obviously 

 fcrtilizicd and enlargeil. This leads one to ask (he question 



