THE ANIMALS OF THE FOREST. IO ; 



the amateur sportsman is careless of this. The 

 consequence is an amount of suffering which he 

 surely cannot appreciate, or he would be afraid 

 to lift his gun against a parrot. The naturalist 

 who has such a man for a companion on a bush 

 excursion is horrified to see him let fly at anything 

 and everything not even those little wanderers 

 from paradise, the humming-birds, being excepted. 

 Snakes are plentiful on the edge of the forest, 

 but they are rarely seen by any one but the 

 naturalist. Although often so brilliant in the 

 light, otherwise their colours assimilate to the 

 bark of the trees round which they coil. As a 

 rule they are very sluggish, although able to 

 move very swiftly when frightened. By walking 

 quietly like the Indian, however, we may often 

 see them with their heads peeping out from among 

 the branches, as if on the look-out, sunning them- 

 selves across some forest path, or taking a drink 

 from the creek. As harmless to man as they 

 are beautiful in his eyes, when he gets over his 

 natural repugnance to them, the naturalist often 

 wonders why snakes are held in such abhorrence. 

 True, the venomous species will turn when trod 

 upon, but they are not to blame for that. Without 

 their poisonous fangs the species which live in 

 the trees might often find it difficult to get a meal. 



