SnaTces. 167 



sionally stroll into the jaws of their foe, who has been 

 patiently waiting hidden in the long grass and under- 

 wood. In the day, too, rabbits often sit out in a 

 biuich of grass, or dr^' furrow, a long way from the 

 ' bury.' Tlieir form is usuall}' within a few paces of 

 a well-marked ' run ' — the}' follow the run out into 

 the field, and then leave it and go among the grass at 

 one side. The run, therefore, sometimes acts as a 

 guide to the fox, who, sheltered by the tall bennets 

 and thick bunches, occasionally glides up it in the 

 daytime to his pre}'. 



There is sure to be a snake or two in the grass 

 of the orchard during the summer, especially if there 

 chance to be an old manure-heap anywhere near ; 

 for that is the place in which they like to leave their 

 chains of white eggs, out of which, if broken, the 

 little snakes issue only two or three inches in length. 

 The heat of the manure-heap acts as an incubator. 

 When it is wet and the hay cannot be touched, the 

 hay-makers, there being nothing else for them to do, 

 are put to turn such heaps, and frequently find the 

 eggs of snakes. These creatures now and then get 

 inside farmhouses, whose floors are generally on a 

 level with the surface of the earth or nearly so. They 

 have been found in the clockease — the old upright 

 eight-da}^ clock, standing on the floor ; they come 

 after the frogs that enter at the doors — always 

 wide open in summer — and are supposed also to 

 eat crumbs. 



In the cellar there is sure to be a toad under the 

 barrels on the cool stone-flags ; in the garden there 

 is another, purposely kept in the cucumber- frame to 

 protect the plant from being eaten by creeping things. 



