74 BIRD STORIES FROM BURROUGHS 



in long festoons, rested a huge black snake ; a 

 bird two-thirds grown was slowly disappearing 

 between his expanded jaws. As he seemed uncon- 

 scious of my presence, I quietly observed the pro- 

 ceedings. By slow degrees he compassed the bird 

 about with his elastic mouth ; his head flattened, 

 his neck writhed and swelled, and two or three 

 undulatory movements of his glistening body fin- 

 ished the work. Then he cautiously raised him- 

 self up, his tongue flaming from his mouth the 

 while, curved over the nest, and, with wavy, sub- 

 tle motions, explored the interior. I can conceive 

 of nothing more overpoweringly terrible to an 

 unsuspecting family of birds than the sudden ap- 

 pearance above their domicile of the head and 

 neck of this arch-enemy. It is enough to petrify 

 the blood in their veins. Not finding the object 

 of his search, he came streaming down from the 

 nest to a lower limb, and commenced extending 

 his researches in other directions, sliding stealth- 

 ily through the branches, bent on capturing one 

 of the parent birds. That a legless, wingless 

 creature should move with such ease and rapidity 

 where only birds and squirrels are considered at 

 home, lifting himself up, letting himself down, 

 running out on the yielding boughs, and travers- 

 ing with marvelous celerity the whole length and 

 breadth of the thicket, was truly surprising. One 



