HE WAS PARALYSED WITH FEAR. 259 



Seeing a bird in either of these positions would seem to the 

 casual observer proof positive that it was being fascinated by the 

 snake. 



If a rat is cornered by a snake it often loses all presence of 

 mind, and facing the reptile it simply squeals. This, however, is 

 more usually the case after the snake has bitten it. 



If a water snake should swim toward a frog sitting on the 

 bank, the latter, whose dominant instinct is to dive into the water, 

 becomes paralysed with fear, and, sitting quite passive, it emits 

 a series of squeaks. 



Captive Snakes and Birds. 



British and European birds, having no snake enemies, are in 

 consequence not at all afraid of these creatures. If placed in the 

 same cage with snakes, they will confidently hop amongst the 

 reptiles, and even perch on their bodies. 



If birds of this country be placed in an aviary with snakes, they 

 show little or no alarm if they are able to fly up to perches out of 

 the reach of the snakes. After a few days they get quite indifferent 

 to the presence of the reptiles, and will not hesitate to feed upon 

 the ground within a few inches of their enemies. Perches have 

 been so arranged that the birds were just out of reach of the snakes, 

 and in no single instance did any of the various species of snakes 

 ever exercise any fascinating power over them. Any bird which 

 became over-confident and approached within striking distance 

 was invariably bitten if the snake was in a mood for eating. If 

 not, the birds were not molested. Practically all the popular 

 beliefs about snakes in South Africa are more or less untrue. 

 Most, if not all, of these erroneous beliefs have originated from 

 the natives. If they were all collected they would fill a large 

 volume, and provide entertaining reading to lovers of fiction. 



He was paralysed with Fear. 



A friend had just arrived from the Homeland. I took him 

 out to show him the luxuriant semi-tropical vegetation which is so 

 profuse in Natal. Meandering along a kafir track through a 

 forest, I paused for a moment to examine a curious insect. On 



