376 KECREATIONS OF A NATURALIST 



presence of some impartial referee. But this has 

 been done, as above mentioned, in this country, and 

 should convince those who are still sceptical on the 

 subject, and who are unable to see in such action a 

 remarkable provision of Nature for protecting the 

 young in time of danger. 



Amongst the mammalia, the young in the 

 majority of cases are carried by the mouth, as dogs 

 carry their puppies and cats their kittens ; or on 

 the back, as with apes and monkeys ; or clinging to 

 them in front, as in the case of bats ; or in pouches, 

 as with all the marsupial animals. Amongst birds, 

 the young are transported by their parents with the 

 aid of the beak, as with the Wild Duck ; or feet, as 

 in the case of the Woodcock and Snipe ; or on the 

 back, as with the cliff-building guillemots and razor- 

 bills and the more familiar Swan ; or even under 

 the wing, as happens with birds like grebes, which 

 escape by diving, and take their young with them. 



In all these cases we see some special provision 

 for insuring the safety of the young in time of 

 danger. None of these methods is available for 

 young snakes. If they are to be protected at all by 

 their parents, they must be temporarily taken into 

 the mouth and oesophagus. And I see nothing im- 

 possible or absurd in such a process. Not only has 

 it been demonstrated {Zoologist, Sept. 1900) that on 

 anatomical grounds it is quite feasible, but there is 

 the analogous case of the Common Lizard (Zooteca 

 vivipara), which while kept in confinement has been 

 seen repeatedly to receive the young into its mouth 

 when danger threatened. It is not more strange 



