130 RIVERBY 



at last I dislodged him, and, swinging and looping 

 like a piece of rubber hose, he went to the ground, 

 where my friends pounced upon him savagely and 

 quickly made an end of him. 



I worked my way carefully down the tree, and 

 was about to drop upon the ground from the lower 

 branches, when I saw another black snake coiled up 

 at the foot of the tree, as if lying in wait for me. 

 Had he started to his mate's rescue, and, seeing the 

 battle over, was he now waiting to avenge himself 

 upon the victor? But the odds were against him; 

 my friends soon had him stretched beside his com- 

 rade. 



The first snake killed had swallowed two young 

 jays just beginning to feather out. 



How the serpent discovered the nest would be very 

 interesting to know. What led him to search in 

 this particular tree amid all these hundreds of trees 

 that surrounded it? It is probable that the snake 

 watches like a cat, or, having seen the parent birds 

 about this tree, explored it. Nests upon the ground 

 and in low boughs are frequently rifled by black 

 snakes, but I have never before known one to climb 

 to such a height in a forest tree. 



It would also be interesting to know if the other 

 snake was in the secret of this nest, and was waiting 

 near to share in its contents. One rarely has the 

 patience to let these little dramas or tragedies be 

 played to the end; one cannot look quietly on, and 

 see a snake devour anything. Not even when it is 

 snake eat snake. Only a few days later my little 



