The Zoologist — September, 1869. 1817 



argala, Linn.), which had just caught a snake of about four feet in 

 length : he was picking him up by the middle, and striking both ends 

 against the hard ground with extreme rapidity, and he doubtless 

 pouched him in a ie\y seconds. 



I have found the remains of snakes in the gigantic nests of Haliaetus 

 leucoryphus {Pallas), the ringtailed sea-eagle. A native of Rasema, 

 a village near Mainpuri, who was a great sportsman, described this 

 bird as pouncing on the snake, pecking violently at its head, thus 

 killing it, and then either deliberately eating it, or carrying it off to its 

 young, — which last fact is confirmed by my previous observation. 

 Another enemy is the serpent-eagle {Circaetus Gatlicus), which is 

 described in ' Jerdon's Birds.' He says, " My Meer shikaree (chief 

 hunter) has seen them on the ground with their claws in the snake's 

 head, its body coiled round the bird's wings, in which state the herd- 

 boys sometimes kill them. The Yerklees say it has a figure of God's 

 churk-ram under each wing, by which it prevents the snake going 

 forward." I myself have not been fortunate enough to see it catching 

 a snake. 



And now a few words regarding the slough of the snake. This is 

 often cast in curious places: a favourite resort near Azimghur,N.W.P., 

 was a grove of trees which had been cut in, and so had thrown 

 out many fine twigs from the stem : at about four or five feet from the 

 ground, and amongst these rough twigs, which were very near to each 

 other, I have constantly found the cast skins. Amongst rough grass 

 and bushes is, however, the most common situation : sometimes they 

 select closed Venetian blinds. Here is a case. On the lOth October, 

 1867, as I got up in the morning, I saw something white in the Vene- 

 tians, which opened to the verandah : this I found to be the slough of 

 a suake nearly four feet in length ; I put it by, wondering what could 

 have brought the snake to cast it in such a place. Next day a lady, 

 an old resident, told me to be careful, as the snake would be sure to 

 hang about, but I thought no more of it. On the 24th October I was 

 sitting most of the day drawing in the reception-room, and felt a queer 

 smell, but thought it might proceed from my subject, viz., a wasp's 

 nest : I sat all day, the smell getting worse. Next day it was un- 

 bearable, and great search was made, and the annoyance was held to 

 proceed from outside : the glazed door was opened, when looking 

 up there was my snake caught in the door by the middle, quite dead 

 of course, and where he had been hanging at least two days. These 



SECOND SEBIES — VOL. IV. 2 U 



