174 
GUIDE TO THE 
and the Cobra crawls away a short distance, but being 
watched by its enemy it again rises to the attack, and is 
again dragged to the ground. This is continued until 
the snake is so mauled about the head, that it can 
offer no further resistance, when the Mongoose proceeds 
to crunch up the head to a pulp. After such a fight 
it has been observed that the muzzles of some Mongooses 
were covered with little blisters, and, immediately after 
a fight, a poison fang of a Cobra was once removed 
• from amongst the hairs of the face of a tame Mongoose. 
The Mongoose, however, has no immunity from the effects 
of the poison of the Cobra, and, when bitten, dies under 
its influence like any other mammal or bird. He escapes 
in the deadly fight simply by his agility and dexterity. 
The large circular house which the visitor now ap¬ 
proaches is 
The Schwendler House, 
so named, in honour of Carl Louis Schwendler, during 
his life-time, and in which his rich collection of pheas¬ 
ants was deposited. As it has been found that the 
pheasants from the high regions of the Himalaya and the 
temperate regions of Asia, do not thrive here, the birds 
represented are generally those pheasants characteristic 
of southern regions, such as the various species of Euplo- 
cami which have quite different tails from the true phea¬ 
sants, and in this respect resemble the jungle-fowl. 
In this house the following species have lived for some 
years : Euplocamus liyeatns , the Lineated Kaleege ; E, 
horsfieldi , the Purple Kaleege ; E. andersoni , Anderson's 
Kaleege ; E. nyctliemerus , the Silver Pheasant ; E. erythro- 
pthalmus , the Rufous-tailed Pheasant ; E. vieilloti y Vieillot’s 
Pheasant, and the Horned Tragopan of the south-eastern 
