120 IN THE AMERICAN DESERT 



curious way, and out of the wreaths of leaves and blossoms 

 came a big, black body, as large as a man's arm — a boa- 

 constrictor. It glided down the creeper towards the trunk 

 of the magnolia, taking the greatest care to do nothing 

 which could rouse the attention of the rattle-snake, who, 

 indeed, was wholly occupied in making ready the squirrel 

 to swallow. He had just taken the head and shoulders 

 into his mouth, when the boa-constrictor appeared 

 dangling for a moment by a single loop of his tail ; then 

 he dropped, and before the lookers-on had time to see 

 what had happened, both snakes were locked together in 

 a death struggle. 



As to size they were very well matched, but the boa- 

 constrictor was thinner, and far more active. It wound 

 and unwound itself round the rattle-snake's body, press- 

 ing it close in its crushing embrace ; and the rattle-snake 

 was powerless to sting, as it could not get rid of the 

 squirrel. Curious to say, they never fought face to face, 

 but the head of the constrictor had seized the bony rattles 

 of its foe, and with its strong tail was really beating him 

 to death. It was quite plain who was going to win ; the 

 snake had no weapons now his poisoned fangs were 

 useless, and soon his struggles grew feebler in the grasp 

 of his enemy, and he stretched himself out, as dead as 

 the squirrel. 



In places that are the homes of wild animals, not a day 

 passes without adventures of this kind. One day Mr. 

 Eolfe and his son Frank went down the valley to collect 

 some moss which hung in strips from the branches of 

 the ' live-oak,' and made soft and comfortable stuffing for 

 mattresses. They soon discovered what they wanted, and 

 were very busy about their work, when some black and 

 yellow orioles began making a terrific hubbub in a grove 

 of pawpaws close by. Leaving the moss the two men 

 crept behind a tree, to see what had caused the disturbance. 



It was some minutes before they found out, then they 



