Blackish-brown or bluish, with narrow transverse white streaks, or small white spots, or alternate rings of yellow and dark brown; belly white. Smaller than the foregoing, scarcely exceeding 1,000 millimetres in length. It is known as the “Krait” in India, where, after the Cobra, the variety _cæruleus_ causes most deaths among human beings. It is found in jungles and rice-fields, and commonly secretes itself in old trees and old walls. It frequently penetrates into houses, verandahs, bathrooms, and even beds. Sir Joseph Fayrer relates the story of a lady, who, when travelling in a palanquin, found on arriving at her destination a “Krait” coiled up in her luggage, the snake having thus made the journey with her throughout a whole night. The Krait may easily be confused with _Lycodon aulicus_, a harmless snake which closely resembles it, though it can at once be distinguished by examining its mouth. (b) Naja. (Fig. 25.) Head scarcely distinct from the neck; eyes with round pupils; nostril between two nasal shields and an internasal. A pair of solid grooved poison-fangs. Body elongate, cylindrical, terminated by a conical and pointed tail. Scales smooth, disposed obliquely, in 15-25 rows. Ventral scales round. _N. tripudians_ (_Cobra-di-Capello_). (Fig. 26.) Head small, covered with large shields, a frontal as long as broad, a supraocular, a præocular, 3 postoculars, 2 + 3 or 3 + 3 temporals, 7 upper labials, 4 lower labials. Neck dilatable by the separation of the first cervical ribs; 21-35 scales round the neck, 17-25 round the middle of the body; 163-205 ventrals; 42-75 subcaudals. Total length, 1,500-1,900 millimetres; tail 230. Coloration very variable, usually cinereous grey or almost black with a bluish sheen; belly lighter, sometimes tinted with red. The head is frequently tinged with golden-yellow; it is spotted with yellowish-white above, and is pure white underneath. This species is distributed throughout the whole of Southern Asia, from the south of the Caspian Sea to South China and the Malay Archipelago. [Illustration: FIG. 25.--Skull of _Naja tripudians_. (After G. A. Boulenger, _op. cit._)] Several varieties occur, and of these the principal are:-- (1) Var. _Typica_ (fig. 27), with a black-and-white spectacle-shaped mark on the middle of the dorsal surface of the most dilatable portion of the neck, and one or more dark transverse bands on the ventral surface, behind the head. _Habitat_: India, Ceylon. (2) Var. _Cæca_.--Colour, pale brown or uniform dark grey, without mark on the neck, and with one or more dark transverse bands on the anterior part of the belly. _Habitat_: Transcaspian region, India, Java. [Illustration: FIG. 26.--_Naja tripudians_ (_Cobra-di-Capello_) ON THE DEFENSIVE, PREPARING TO STRIKE.]