The Humming Bird. 57 



The viper, on the contrary, is usually found in the latter 

 localities. All my captures have been made in situations of 

 the former description, where there was little or no fear of 

 meeting with the viper, so that I have usually dispensed with 

 the forked stick, and have seized the reptiles with my hands. 

 This is a surer means of capture, as, if the first thrust with 

 the stick misses, the snake will probably escape. We will 

 suppose that the snake-hunter has arrived at a likely spot, such 

 as a meadow with a hedge and ditch running round it, and 

 with a pond in it. He should slowly and noiselessly walk by 

 the side of the ditch, carefully examining the banks as he goes, 

 for that is where the snakes usually lie, basking in the sun. 

 He is more likely to hear them before he sees them, as they 

 are very quick to take alarm, and glide away under the hedge or 

 down disused burrows of rabbits and field-mice with incredible 

 swiftness. 



If, however, they have just had a meal they are very 

 sluggish, even remaining coiled up until seized. When cap- 

 tured in this condition they often disgorge their prey, which 

 generally consists of frogs ; these they swallow alive, and I 

 have often caught snakes which had just swallowed their 

 victims, the latter on being disgorged, hopping about as 

 though nothing had happened. 



If there is water in the ditch, the collector should keep 

 an eye on that also, as snakes swim very rapidly and without 

 noise. When one is captured, it should be transferred to the 

 linen bag, which should then be carefully and strongly tied ; 

 if the day is very hot, it is advisable to occasionally dip the 

 bag in water whenever a pond is passed. After the hedge- 

 banks have been thoroughly explored and examined, attention 

 should be turned to the pond. This latter should be very 

 cautiously approached, or the snakes may dive into the water, 

 under which they can remain for a considerable time. It took 

 me about half-an-hour one day last summer to capture a 

 beautiful little snake six or seven inches long. It swam across 

 the pond twice, finally climbing into the branches of a bush 

 which overhung the water. Here w T as a dilemma. If I had 

 made the least sound it would have glided into the water, so I 

 had to crawl on hands and knees, moving scarcely an inch at 

 a time, until within reach of the bush, when I seized the reptile 

 just as he made a dart for the water, nearly diving head-first 

 into the latter myself. 



It sometimes happens that two or more snakes are found 

 together ; in that case things get exciting. On one occasion 

 2 



