ready to inflict its poisonous bite with lightning speed. On the
back of its hood are yellow markings like a pair of spectacles.

The cobra lives in old walls or heaps of stone and timber, under roots,
or in dead trunks in the forest, in fact anywhere where he can find a
sheltered hole. He does not avoid human dwellings, and he may often be
seen, heavy and motionless, rolled up before his hole. But as soon as a
man approaches he glides quickly and noiselessly into his hole, and if
attacked defends himself with a weapon which is as dangerous as a
revolver.

He is a day snake, but avoids sunshine and heat and prefers to seek his
food after sunset. He should more properly be described as a snake of
the twilight. He glides under the close brushwood of the jungle in
pursuit of lizards and frogs, birds, eggs, and rats or other small
animals that come in his way. On his roamings he also climbs up trees
and creeping plants, and swims across large streams. It might be thought
that a vessel anchored off the coast would be safe from cobras, but
cases have been known of these snakes swimming out, crawling up the
anchor chains, and creeping on board.

The female lays a score of long eggs as large as a pigeon's, but with a
soft shell. The male and female are believed to entertain a great
affection for each other, for it has been noticed that when one of them
is killed, the other is shortly seen at the same spot.

The Hindus regard the cobra as a god, and are loath to kill him. Many
cannot bring themselves to do so. If a cobra comes into a hut, the owner
sets out milk for him and protects him in every way, and when the
reptile becomes practically tame and finds that he is left undisturbed,
he does his host no harm. But if the snake kills any one in the hut, he
is caught, carried to a distance, and let loose. If he bites a man and
then is killed, the bitten man must also die. If he meets with an
unfriendly reception in a hut, he brings ruin to the inmates; but if he
is hospitably entertained, he brings good fortune and prosperity. If a
serpent-charmer kills a cobra, he loses for ever his power over snakes.
It is natural that a creature which is treated with such reverence must
multiply excessively. About twenty thousand men are killed annually in
India by snakes.

The cobra's poison is secreted in glands, and is forced out through the
poison teeth when these pierce through the skin of a man or animal. Its
effect is virulent when i