136 



THE BOOMSLANGE. 



ing being green, olive, or brown ; of such different colors, 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 manifestly organized 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 glary secre- 

 tion. This secretion possibly 

 may have something acrid 

 and irritating in its quality, 

 which may, when it enters a 

 wound, occasion pain and 

 swelling, but nothing of greater 

 importance. 



The Boomslange is gener- 

 ally found on trees, to which 

 it resorts for the purpose of 

 catching birds, upon which it 

 delights to feed. The pres- 

 ence of a specimen in a tree 

 is generally soon discovered 

 by the birds of the neighbor- 

 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 proceeding, the Snake is 

 generally observed 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 in- 

 flated, as if anxiously endeav- 

 oring to increase the terror 

 which it would almost appear 

 it was aware would sooner or 

 later bring within its grasp 

 some one of the feathered 



BOOMSLANQE Buocephalus Capeasls. 



group. 



Whatever may be said in 



ridicule of fascination, it is nevertheless true, that birds, and even quadrupeds also, 

 are, under certain circumstances, unable to retire from the presence of certain of their 

 enemies ; and what is even more extraordinary, unable to resist the propensity to ad- 

 vance 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 be- 

 wildered 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." 



