WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 335 



let its head hang down, but holds it up as far as pos- 

 sible ; he does not, however, seem able to crawl up 

 himself, so to say he is helpless in that position. If 

 he is allowed to touch the arm, he immediately coils 

 round it. A snake is sometimes found on the roofs 

 of cottages. The roof in such cases is low, and con- 

 nected by a mass of ivy with the ground, overgrown 

 too with moss and weeds. 



The mowers, who sleep a good deal under the hedges, 

 have a tradition that a snake will sometimes crawl 

 down a man's throat if he sleeps on the ground with 

 his mouth open. There is also a superstition among 

 the haymakers of snakes having been bred in the 

 stomachs of human beings, from drinking out of ponds 

 or streams frequented by water snakes. Such snakes 

 green, and in every respect like the field snake 

 have, according to them, been vomited by the unfor- 

 tunate persons afflicted with this strange calamity. 

 It is curious to note in connection with this supersti- 

 tion the ignorance of the real habits of these creatures 

 exhibited by people whose whole lives are spent in 

 the fields and by the hedges. 



Now and then a peculiar squealing sound may be 

 heard proceeding from the grass ; on looking about 

 it is found to be made by a frog in the extremity of 

 mortal terror. A snake has seized one of its hind 

 legs, and has already swallowed a large part of it. The 

 frog struggles and squeals, but it is in vain ; the snake, 

 if once he takes hold, will gradually get him down. I 

 have several times released frogs from this horrible 



