NATUBAL IMMUNITY OF CERTAIN ANIMALS 227 



young snakes for food. No investigations, however, have yet been 

 made upon this subject. 



These birds, moreover, are few in number ; hunters pursue them 

 for the sake of their brilliantly coloured plumage, and it is to be 

 regretted that no attempt is made to prevent their destruction 

 or to acchmatise them in countries in which poisonous snakes 

 constitute a veritable calamity, such as Martinique, St. Lucia, or 

 India. 



