294 REPTILES OF THE WORLD 



of preparation in getting into fighting attitude; this 

 warning so shght, though, that unless he who seeks to 

 evade the blow be possessed of great agility, the damage 

 may be done before he has time to realize what has hap- 

 jjened. In a country like India, where a large part of 

 the population goes about bare-legged, the danger 

 from Cobras may be imagined. 



Compared with other snakes, both dangerous and in- 

 nocuous, the Cobra appears to be the most untamable. 

 After years in captivity the average specimen remains 

 as frenziedly hostile as when first received from the na- 

 tive wilds. The tales of Cobras attacking men have 

 been generally condemned as fallacious, but are not en- 

 tirel}^ devoid of truth. On several occasions the writer 

 has noted signs of real aggressiveness on the part of 

 angry Cobras, clearly indicating a more dangerous tj^pe 

 of serpent than the thick-bodied and sluggish viperine 

 snake. Two specimens of the Sumatran Cobra have 

 been in the reptile house of the New York Zoological 

 Park for over three years. They are fully as vicious 

 to-day as upon their arrival at the Park. The opening 

 of the cage door, even a slight wave of the hand, is suf- 

 ficient to throw these specimens into a frenzy of anger. 

 When rearing to strike they are extremely nervous. A 

 slight movement of a stick will cause them to start like a 

 fractious horse at a gun-shot. They strike forward and 

 downward, often with such force as to slide them bodily 

 forward. Each successive dart brings them nearer the 

 observer, when they rear higher, hissing with such vigor 

 as to be heard for seventy-five feet or more. Not in- 

 frequently, when near the intruder, they display a bold 

 habit of suddenly dropping from their rearing posture, 

 darting forward, then fiinging the body again into the 

 fighting position. This is an action devoid of fear and 



