COBRA (_Naja tripudians_), a poisonous Colubrine snake, belonging to the
family _Elapidae_, known also as the hooded snake, cobra di capello or
_naga_. In this genus the anterior ribs are elongated, and by raising
and bringing forward these, the neck can be expanded at will into a
broad disk or hood. It possesses two rows of palatine teeth in the upper
jaw, while the maxillary bones bear the fangs, of which the anterior one
only is in connexion with the poison gland, the others in various stages
of growth remaining loose in the surrounding flesh until the destruction
of the poison fang brings the one immediately behind to the front, which
then gets anchylosed to the maxillary bone, and into connexion with the
gland secreting the poison, which in the cobra is about the size of an
almond. Behind the poison fangs there are usually one or two ordinary
teeth. The cobra attains a length of nearly 6 ft. and a girth of about 6
in.

The typical cobra is yellowish to dark-brown, with a black and white
spectacle-mark on the back of the hood, and with a pair of large black
and white spots on the corresponding under-surface. There are, however,
many varieties, in some of which the spectacle markings on the hood are
wanting. The cobra may be regarded as nocturnal in its habits, being
most active by night, although not unfrequently found in motion during
the day. It usually conceals itself under logs of wood, in the roofs of
huts and in holes in old walls and ruins, where it is often come upon
inadvertently, inflicting a death wound before it has been observed. It
feeds on small quadrupeds, frogs, lizards, insects and the eggs of
birds, in search of which it sometimes ascends trees. When seeking its
prey it glides slowly along the ground, holding the anterior third of
its body aloft, with its hood distended, on the alert for anything that
may come in its way. "This attitude," says Sir J. Fayrer, "is very
striking, and few objects are more calculated to inspire awe than a
large cobra when, with his hood erect, hissing loudly and his eyes
glaring, he prepares to strike." It is said to drink large quantities of
water, although like reptiles in general it will live for many months
without food or drink. The cobra is oviparous; and its eggs, which are
from 18 to 25 in number, are of a pure white colour, somewhat resembling
in size and appearance the eggs of the pigeon, but sometimes larger.
These it leaves to be hatched by the heat of th