THE NIGHT-SIDE OF NATURE. 213 



enable the bird to see a fish in the water is still 

 repeated, and a greater error never found utter- 

 ance. It is a pretty fancy, so the more danger- 

 ous, as it crops out every now and then, to the 

 deceiving of the unsuspecting reader. 



I have spoken of a monstrous water-snake. 

 This serpent has long been a feature of the pond, 

 and, when in the upland fields laying its eggs it 

 probably smelled the water, and so turned north- 

 ward toward the lilies, instead of returning south- 

 ward to the splatter-docks in the meadows. I 

 have cornered the creature several times, and al- 

 ways found it exceedingly surly. To be held in the 

 hand it considers an insult, and bites with a rapid- 

 ity of motion of the head that is marvelous. Its 

 teeth are pretty sharp, too, and bring blood when 

 the hand or bare arm is struck ; but then its vio- 

 lent efforts are so amusing that one forgets all 

 about the pain. The snake loves a moonlit night, 

 and at such times occasionally floats upon the 

 surface of the pond without making the slightest 

 motion, and a stranger would suppose it to be a 

 small limb of a tree. This apparent rest, how- 

 ever, has a purpose behind, and is, I think, 

 connected with the capture of food ; or so it has 

 appeared to me on several occasions. 



That the several turtles of our meadow tracts 

 should find their way to the pond was not sur- 

 prising, for even those most strictly aquatic take 



