130 



THE BOOMSLANGE 



green, olive, or brown ; of such different colours, that it has often been separated into 

 several distinct species. 



Dr. A. Smith has given the following valuable description of the Boomslange and 

 its habits : 



" The natives of South Africa regard the Boomslange as poisonous, but in their opinion 

 we cannot concur, as we have not been able to discover the existence of any gland mani- 

 festly organised for the secretion of poison. The fangs are inclosed in a soft pulpy 



sheath, the inner surface of which 

 is commonly coated with a thin 

 glairy secretion. This secretion 

 possibly may have something 

 acrid and irritating in its quality, 

 which may, when it enters a 

 wound, occasion pain and swel- 

 ling, but nothing of greater im- 

 portance. 



The Boomslange is generally 

 found on trees, to which it resorts 

 for the purpose of catching birds, 

 upon which it delights to feed. 

 The presence of a specimen in a 

 tree is generally soon discovered 

 by the birds of the neighbour- 

 hood, who collect around it, and 

 fly to and fro, uttering the most 

 piercing cries, until some one, more 

 terror-struck than the rest, actually 

 scans its lips, and almost without 

 resistance, becomes a meal for its 

 enemy. During such a proceed- 

 ing, the Snake is generally ob- 

 served with its head raised about 

 ten or twelve inches above the 

 branch, round which its body and 

 tail are entwined, with its mouth 

 open, and its neck inflated, as if 

 anxiously endeavouring to in- 

 crease the terror which it would 

 almost appear it was aware would 

 sooner or later bring within its 

 grasp some one of the feathered 

 group. 



Whatever may be said in ridi- 

 cule of fascination, it is neverthe- 

 less true, that birds, and even 

 quadrupeds also, are, under cer- 

 tain circumstances, unable to re- 

 tire from the presence of certain 

 of their enemies ; and what is 



even more extraordinary, unable to resist the propensity to advance from a situation of 

 actual safety into one of the most imminent danger. This I have often seen exemplified 

 in the case of birds and Snakes ; and I have heard of instances equally curious, in which 

 antelopes and other quadrupeds have been so bewildered by the sudden appearance 

 of crocodiles, and by the grimaces and contortions they practised, as to be unable to fly 

 or even move from the spot towards which they were approaching to seize them." 



JOOMSLA.NGE. 



