The Indian vernacular of the Ophiophagus is _Sunkerchor_, which means, as Fayrer tells us, ‘a breaker of shells.’ I have taken some pains to ascertain a more definite reason for this name being assigned to the Ophiophagus, or snake-eater, but without success. Is it because he is an _exception_ to the rule of eggs being swallowed _whole_, he having for his size a particularly small mouth and swallow; and that he, like his relatives the cobras, being unwilling to relinquish the dainty, manages them clumsily, and breaks the shells? There must be some reason for his being known as the ‘shell-breaker.’ Being a tree snake, it may be that ‘Sunkerchor,’ the shell-breaker, attempts the smaller birds’ eggs, which are too tender to be swallowed without fracture. The cobra-worshipping Hindûs on their festivals place eggs for their gods, that they also may partake of the feast. But examples of egg-eating snakes are not confined to India. America, the Cape colonies, and all snake countries are prolific of them. Mr. P. H. Gosse in Jamaica killed a yellow boa (_Chilobothrus inornatus_), inside of which he found seven unbroken hen’s eggs. It had been caught in a rat trap. Catesby, the early American naturalist, in describing the corn-coloured snake, says ‘it is harmless except as a robber of hens’ roosts.’ Lawson, the still earlier traveller, in his quaint description of the ‘Racer,’ or ‘black snake’ (_Coluber constrictor_), says:—‘He is an excellent Egg Merchant, for he does not suck the Eggs, but swallows them whole. He will often swallow all the Eggs from under a Hen that sits, and coil himself under the Hen in the nest, where sometimes the Housewife finds him.’ Lawson, also, describes the ‘Egg and Chicken Snake’ (a doubtful vernacular), ‘so called because it is frequent about the Hen-Yard, and eats Eggs and Chickens.’ The early American settlers guarded their poultry-yards against snakes as vigilantly as against rats, foxes, and other such predators. As for the ‘black snake,’ though non-venomous, all rearers of poultry visit him with vengeance.