NATUIiAL IMMUNITY OF CERTAIN ANIMALS 227 



young snakes for food. No investigations, however, have yet been 

 made upon this subject. 



These birds, moreover, are few in number ; hunters pursue them 

 for the sake of their brilliantly coloured plumage, and it is to be 

 regretted that no attempt is made to prevent their destruction , 

 or to acclimatise them in countries in which poisonous snakes 

 constitute a veritable calamity, such as Martinique, St. Lucia, or 

 India. 



