WAYS OF NATURE 
rel-catching by its mother, I shall know he is a pre- 
tender. 
Speaking of snakes reminds me of an incident I 
have several times witnessed in our woods in con- 
nection with a snake commonly called the sissing or 
blowing adder. When I have teased this snake a few 
moments with my cane, it seems to be seized with an 
epileptic or cataleptic fit. It throws itself upon its 
back, coiled nearly in the form of a figure eight, and 
begins a series of writhings and twistings and con- 
vulsive movements astonishing to behold. Its mouth 
is open and presently full of leaf-mould, its eyes are 
covered with the same, its head is thrown back, its 
white belly up; now it is under the leaves, now out, 
the body all the while being rapidly drawn through 
this figure eight, so that the head and tail are con- 
stantly changing place. What does it mean? Is it 
fear? Is it a real fit? I do not know, but any one of 
our romance-naturalists could tell you at once. I can 
only suggest that it may be a ruse to baffle its enemy, 
the black snake, when he would attempt to crush 
it in his folds, or to seize its head when he would 
swallow it. 
I am reminded of another mystery connected with 
a snake, or a snake-skin, and a bird. Why does our 
great crested flycatcher weave a snake-skin into its 
nest, or, in lieu of that, something that suggests a 
snake-skin, such as an onion-skin, or fish-scales, or 
a bit of oiled paper? It is thought by some persons 
17 
