248 CROCODILES AND CAYMANS. 



the caymans of the Amazon enter the huts of the 

 Indians ; and Lacepede reports, that in South America, 

 when the lakes inhabited hy caymans become dry, 

 theso animals, condemned thenceforward to a terres- 

 trial life, live on game for months together. 



It is whilst the crocodile is on land that that 

 extraordinary and charming scene, related by Hero- 

 dotus, occurs, which has been treated as a fable by 

 moderns, and which was only definitively assigned to 

 science when Geoffroy Saint Hilaire witnessed it 

 during his residence in Egypt. 



"Whilst the crocodile is going through the water, 

 leeches pass into its gaping mouth, and when on 

 land ants -and gnats introduce themselves there. 

 The shortness of its tongue leaves it powerless 

 against these enemies. But a small bird, a plover 

 (Charadrius jEyyptus), comes to its aid. The monster 

 opens its mouth, the bird enters, picks the animal's 

 teeth with its beak, cleanses the gums, palate, and 

 tongue, and having performed its task departs. 



" The crocodile," says 2Elian, "profiting by this 

 service, endures the operation with patience, and 

 remains motionless, so that the plover finds a good 

 meal in the leeches ; and the crocodile, rejoicing in 

 its assistance, thinks that he recompenses it suffi- 

 ciently in allowing it to depart in peace." 



In the Antilles another bird (the humming great 



