MOORLAND IDYLLS. 



of his fixed yearly cycle as the fall of the leaf 

 is to the tree, or migration towards warmer 

 lands is to the swallow or house-martin. 

 Snakes can't migrate; because, of course, 

 they've got no wings to migrate with ; and 

 being chilly creatures, evolving little animal 

 heat of their own from their sluggish circu- 

 lation, and warmed by the sun alone into 

 spasmodic activity, they are compelled to 

 bury themselves in holes in the ground, 

 where they lie close to all others of their 

 species that they can find, so as to utilize 

 in common, by mutual aid, whatever trifle 

 of bodily warmth they possess between 

 them. Indeed, a snake, like a tree, can 

 only be said really to live for half 

 its lifetime ; the other half these Perse- 

 phones of the north spend underground in 

 the torpid condition. The heart almost 

 entirely ceases to beat ; the lungs cease to 

 act ; sensation is suspended ; and the animal 

 dozes away his time unconsciously till the 

 summer warmth of the surface soil begins 



44 



