610 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



ward their fellow-lodgers, they tarried so long before they broke their 

 fast that their host apprehended a dietetic misunderstanding, and 

 treated them to a nest with five young sparrows the next day. Three 

 of these died before their snakeships condescended to partake ; old 

 sparrows, rats, and cockroaches were tried with no better success. The 

 freckled ophidians still seemed to eat under protest, " yielding, but not 

 consenting, to injustice," as Shere Ali said. But, though their propri- 

 etor's experiments failed to explain the mystery of rattlesnake-food, he 

 believes that they solved a more interesting problem the question in 

 regard to the modus operandi of poisonous serpents in the capture of 

 their prey. 



During the first week of their confinement his rattlesnakes disdained 

 to chase their game, and the stupidity of the bugs and young birds 

 made it easy enough to collar them whenever they were wanted ; but 

 one morning the gamins of the neighborhood caught an old blackbird 

 and sold it to the zoological druggist for two pieces of stick-candy. 

 The blacksnakes were covered up with an old apron to prevent their 

 interference, and the vivoras who had fasted for twenty-four hours, 

 rather then eat cockroaches, got one more chance at a square meal. 

 After fluttering around in an excited way for a while, the bird settled 

 down in a corner, and the two snakes prepared for action. They low- 

 ered their heads, and, without moving the tail-end of their bodies, 

 approached the bird by a gradual extension of their coils ; but he was 

 all suspicion, and recommenced his fluttering before their cat-like ad- 

 vance had brought them within range. The snakes separated then ; 

 the female rolled herself up in the blackbird's corner and her mate 

 took post in the center of the room, but, after readjusting their coils, 

 neither budged an inch ; they bided their time. 



Dashing his head against the windows seemed to tire the bird after 

 a while. Presently he came down, but alighted in a rather inacces- 

 sible place, took wing again, and, alighting in his old corner, finally 

 blundered into the water-pot. He hopped out with drenched wings 

 and devoted a few seconds to the rearrangement of his toilet, uncon- 

 scious or heedless of the proximity of the female partner of the hostile 

 alliance. She watched all his movements, and her tail quivered in a 

 curious way when she saw him poke his head under his right wing, 

 the one turned toward the corner ; she seemed to know that he would 

 repeat the same manoeuvre on the left-wing side. He did so, and she 

 had him directly. Drawing herself up, she poised her neck like a 

 dart, braced herself by contracting the rear coils, and let drive. A 

 loud screech, a few feathers flying, and a terrified bird darting through 

 the room like a blind chicken cause and effect coinciding with shot- 

 like suddenness. 



Instead of following him she returned to her favorite nook, where 

 she was soon after joined by her mate. The difficult part of the job 

 was done. Three or four times the bird managed to take wing, stag- 



