POISONOUS SNAKES OF NORTH AMERICA. 395 



his prisoners stayed iu their Uiir in the recess of an open box, but on the 

 morning of the third day they began to show symptoms of appetite, 

 and the professor treated them to a breakfast of live blaclcbirds. About 

 five minutes after the api)earance of the newcomers, one of the snakes 

 left her headquarters and crawled across to the corner next to the 

 front window, while her mate took jiost behind a waterpot near the 

 center of the room. The birds were too busy to notice them at all. 

 The temptation to attempt escape in a lightward direction seemed to 

 occupy them too much to mind such inferior incidents as the maneuvers 

 of a crawling object on the floor. The front window with its large 

 panes seemed to prove specially attractive, and the ambushed snake 

 had just contracted her coils for the tliird time when the descent of a 

 fluttering bird gave her a chance to bring matters to a crisis. 



"Ko need of charming in this case," thought the professor when the 

 stricken blackbird recoiled with a frightened squawk. But there was 

 still need of patience. For nearly a minute the doomed bird fluttered 

 about in an aimless way before the chemicals began to operate in earnest 

 and he fell over on his side with half-opened wings. He was too far 

 gone even to keep on his legs, and only then the snake crawled up to 

 take possession of her prey, though she had all along watched her 

 victim with glittering eyes. 



Brehm repeated his experiment with sparrows, gophers, common rats, 

 weasels, quails, woodpeckers, and meadow larks, and always with an 

 analogous result, except in the case of a woodpecker that made its way 

 to the top of the window and died out of reach of the serpent. In every 

 other case the victim at first made its escape, but was captured in 

 articulo inortis, after betraying its waning strength by all sorts of curi- 

 ous symptoms. Even the weasel gave up its attempt at retaliation 

 after a short struggle, and in its last moments staggered out of its 

 hiding-place and finally directly toward the approaching enemy. 



I think I have seen it suggested somewhere, though I am now unable 

 to find the reference, that the alleged faculty of fascination might be of 

 a hypnotic nature. This suggestion may not be so entirely absurd as 

 at first appears, if we remember the highly nervous and excitable 

 nature of the birds and the ease with which some of them, at least, are 

 brought under influences similar to those of hypnotism. In this con- 

 nection I may call attention to a very curious device used in some parts 

 of Germany for decoying larks, the so called "lark mirror" {Lerchen- 

 Spiegel). As described and figured by Naumann* it consists of an oval 

 piece of wood studded with small pieces of broken looking-glass, some 

 not larger than a pea, which is made to revolve upon a low stick put 

 into the ground. The glittering of the revolving glass pieces reflecting 

 the sun seems to attract the larks, which dart down upon it and are 

 then caught in the nets. The flickering light seems to "fascinate" the 

 bird. 



*Naturgescliiclito der Vogel Deutschlauds, iv, pp. 186-187 (1824). 



