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.
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.