A354 THE ZooLocist—Marcu, 1875. 
grown for some time past. It often hoots as loud as its wild 
relations. On first getting this bird we put it into a cage along 
with two small owls, but as it gradually increased in size it 
exhibited less respect for them, pecking and bullying them in 
such a manner that we had to remove them to save their lives. 
We generally feed it on meat, but it is very fond of living mice 
and chickens. 
Owls are by no means favourite birds with the generality of 
mankind; not only savages, but civilized beings hold them in 
superstitious dread, and listen to the sound of their voice with 
disgust. We hope this does not apply to any true lover of Nature, 
to whom all natural sounds ought to be pleasing. Many of the 
notes of the owl resemble the cooing of doves, and we think 
agreeably break the silence of the night. 
Snakes, Boas, Pythons and Imambas.—These formidable rep- 
tiles are all found in Natal. The two former are comparatively 
harmless, owing to their having no poisonous fangs. Last year 
we found a boa’s nest, with no less than forty large leathery eggs, 
about three inches in length by two in thickness: they were laid 
in a large hole on the side of a hill. The snake was sitting at the 
time we discovered the nest: a few blows with a stick stunned it; 
it measured nearly fifteen feet. By the help of some natives we 
had it taken down to our place, where we kept it chained for some 
days; but although it seemed to recover from the effects of its 
wounds it refused all food, and we had to kill it. The boa would 
have been an interesting study if we could have managed to tame it. 
We destroyed all the eggs, with the exception of a few, which we 
preserved by filling them with cotton: this destruction was a great 
boon to the neighbourhood, where these snakes kill enormous 
numbers of bush antelopes and other game. Boas have been found 
in Natal twenty-five feet in length, and pythons—which are closely 
allied—nearly as long. The largest animal, we believe, these snakes 
will devour is the large red “ inkonka,” or bush-buck, which some- 
times weighs as much as two hundred pounds, and equals in bulk 
a good-sized calf. 
The snake we consider most to be dreaded in this country is a 
large reptile called by the Kafirs “imamba.” It grows to about 
the same size as the python, but, unlike that, is very poisonous. 
There are two species, one nearly black and the other of a bright 
green colour. It has been said that a man on horseback cannot 
