SXAKES. BURRS AXD r>IRDS. 



Bv CLTH1U:RT tHRlSTV. M.r... F.Z.S. 



Figure 27. The Khinocero; 



Whilst exploring one of the big forests in Uganda 

 in 1907, I one day told my men that I wanted some 

 puff-adders, two species of which {Bitis iiasiconiis) 

 (see Figure 27), and a much larger one {Bitis 

 }>iihoiiicit) . are v'ery 

 common in these forests. 

 Next day I had three 

 or four brought to me. 

 and the following tla\' 

 several more. My in- 

 tention was to collect a 

 quantity of the venom. 

 and ultimately preser\e 

 the skins. 



These dangerous 

 snakes are fortunate]\ 

 sluggish brutes, very un- 

 like most of the Indian 

 ones. The largest 

 species, which is some- 

 times five feet long, is usually found curled up 

 amongst the dead leaves on the 

 ground, where it may, appar- 

 ently, remain for weeks without 

 moving. I have seen a hundred 

 men in line tread within a foot 

 of one without its taking any 

 notice. Both species have the 

 the power of puffing themselves 

 '>ut. when irritated, to more 

 than double their usual girth. 

 and can strike w ith tremendous 

 force. The smaller and horned 

 one is more often found 

 - ' 4»ji jirrs :imongst the undergrowth, a 



C^ d!-^' ! -^^ considerable distance from the 

 ground. 



The facility with whicii my 

 men procured a number of 

 these poisonous \ipers surprised 

 me. On questioning them one 

 said something I could not 

 understand about "birds in the 

 grass": so next day I went with 

 him into the forest, telling him 

 to take me to where he had 

 found the snakes he had 

 brought. On reaching the 

 [)lace, he pointed out some 

 clusters of a small climbing 

 plant' a few feet off the ground, and not unlike the 

 common woodbine of our hedgerows. On closer 



■j .■/'. S. iScn-i./sc, F.X.S. 



Viper" (Bitis nasiconiis). 



A 



II.'^ 



FiGUKi; 28. 

 Burr of Pisoiiia 

 iiciilctita. 



luiik'lli is tweKc 

 iiiilliiiietcrs. 



e.xamination. I found that the withered parts of this 

 plant bore hundreds of small fruits or ■"burrs" 

 (see Figure 28), which clung to m\- coat sleeve and 

 almost anything that touched them ever so lightly. 

 I was still unable to 

 imagine what possible 

 connection there could 

 be between this plant or 

 its fruits and the snakes: 

 but sure enough we found 

 two puff-adders, and saw- 

 other snakes beneath 

 this mystifying plant, al- 

 tliough to see a snake in 

 tile African forests is not 

 such a \ery common 

 occurrence. 



On returning to camp 

 and going into the matter 

 with an interi)reter, I was 

 forced to the conclusion that the plant was 

 able to catch small birds, or at least to so 

 hamper their moveinents if its " burrs " became 

 entangled in their feathers that they fluttered 

 about on the ground and became an easy prey 

 to the snakes lying in wait beneath, though it 

 seemed crediting the reptiles with extraordinary 

 perspicacity or even some amount of botanical 

 knowledge. 



Some months aftiT this, one of my Furopean 

 assistants lirought me a bird about the si/e of a 

 sparrow which he asserted he had caught in the 

 forest with his hands, and which had its 

 and body feathers so matted and tangled 

 these very same " burrs " that it could < 

 more than flutter about the 

 floor. So that it must 

 be really a fact that these 

 snakes have sufficient in- 

 telligence to distinguish in 

 some wav either the ])laiit 

 or the locality in which it 

 grows, or else have learnt 

 b\- experience that that 

 precise spot is one in whicli 

 small birds, so hamper 

 in their movements tliat 

 the\- are unable to fly away, 

 arc likely to be found. In 

 Africa the forest natives 



are full of little items of observation, such as 

 this, that delight the iield-naturahst. 



wmg 

 witli 



Figi:rk 2'J. 



.A section of the Burr 



showiiij; the Unobs with 



which it is provided. 



Mr. Haynioiul Ditmars, author of "Reptiles of tlie World." says on pajje J27 of his l)ook that the Rhinoceros Viper is the most 

 beautifully coloured of all snakes. This is his description of a specimen which has recently cast its skin : — 

 ■ Knlire upper surface preseiiliiis lhc<MTect of v.iriesa(eil velvet. A row of p.-ile blue, nickeil. olilong blotches on the li.ick, e.ich lonsituiliiLiily tr.iversed liy .lii orange 

 yello>v land .ind narrowly bordere.! wilb the same hue. The blue oblongs are set in jet black rhombs and these in turn are bordered with dark carmuic. Sides, witli large, 

 upright, ruddy.brown triangles, bordered with dull carmine, thence witli bl.ack and externally with pale blue. Between all of the blotches and pronounced markings, the 

 ground color is rich olive, thickly peppered with black. The he.id is bluish, with black dots, and ornamented in the centre with a sooly-bl.ack arrow.sh.iped blotch pointing 

 forward ; the horns are yellow." [Eds.1 



t Dr. Otto Staps has kindly identified it as Pisouia aciilctita (Order Nyctaginaceae). 



U 



