SHORT STUDIES OF SNAKES. 299 



such influence over the bird or mammal as ultimately to 

 deprive it of all power of locomotion. I must confess 

 that I am somewhat skeptical on this point, although I 

 have on several occasions witnessed cases of such " charm- 

 ing," i. e., cases where small birds were literally fright- 

 ened to death by the snakes. On careful examination, 

 however, I found that the snake was suspiciously near the 

 nest of the victim. The bird evidently experienced a 

 struggle between the impulse to defend its nest and the 

 desire to escape a dreaded foe ; and this is, I think, the 

 explanation of its short flights and quick returns, as 

 though held by a short string. A victim to these oppos- 

 ing emotions, the bird finally became exhausted and fell 

 to the ground within reach of the snake. Once I caught 

 such an exhausted bird and found that it was simply 

 worn out. After a half hour's rest, it flew away without 

 so much as saying " thank you." Further, I believe this 

 " charming " can only occur among some of our timid 

 birds, like the chipping-sparrow, summer-warbler, and 

 others. The biggest black-snake that ever crawled could 

 no more scare a common wren, than could a frog in a 

 spring " charm " you. Detailed accounts of such things 

 have, I know, been frequently published, and no doubt 

 they were thought to be true ; but in the cases witnessed 

 by me, a much simpler explanation can be found in the 

 fact that the snake, instead of exerting any occult power, 

 simply devoured the exhausted bird that came within its 

 reach. 



Ivalm gives a detailed account of the fascination ex- 

 ercised by the rattlesnake over squirrels, and incidentally 

 tells us that the same power is possessed by the black- 

 snake. The translator of the volumes, however, sees 

 nothing remarkable about the habit, and suggests a very 

 reasonable explanation of the fact. 



