NATURE-STUDY LESSONS. 4S 



A. Its Food and Eating. 



1. {a) Discover what kind of food it will take. 



{b) Try insects, earthworms, bits of meat, milk, etc. 

 (c) Infer whether the snake is useful to the farmer. 



2. Discover whether it will touch food that does not 

 move. 



If it refuses all food offered, a bit of fresh, lean meat may be pushed 

 down its neck with a small, smooth stick. 



3. Observe its method of moving its lower jaw when 

 it is taking an earthworm. 



4. Have you ever observed a snake taking a frog ? 



At first the snake will be timid and will not eat when observed, but it 

 soon becomes tame. Different species of snake prefer different kinds of 

 food and vary in the method of capturing it. 



B. Its Mouth. 



5. Using a small stick or lead pencil discover how the 

 snake can swallow an object of greater diameter than its 

 own head. 



C. Its Teeth and Tongue. 



6. (a) Observe the teeth, their form, number, position 



and the direction in which they point. 

 (Jb) Infer why it is difficult for an animal which the 

 snake has seized to escape. 



It is easy to feel the teeth with a small stick or pencil. 



7. Observe its beautiful forked tongue and try to dis- 

 cover its use. 



D. Its Eyes. 



8. Touch its eye and discover whether it has eyelids. 



E. Its Nostrils. 



9. Observe its nostrils and note its breathing. 



