562 General Notes. [July, 
question excepting a vibrating tremor passing helplessly from 
nasal tip to tail tip, and a swift contracting of the assailant’s con- 
voluting folds assured the victim of broken ribs and speedy help- 
lessness. The mouth of the moccasin was open, though the bifid 
tongue could not dart forth, the lower jaw hung livid, and the 
strength left in the upper maxillary was insufficient to allow the 
poison fangs to erect themselves. Suffocation and broken ribs 
were too much even for a dead!y snake to withstand. These 
facts were closely noted by our acute Ophibolus who slowly un- 
coiled himself from the neck of the vanquished, and withdrawing 
his head a few inches so as to notice the features of his prey, he 
advanced for the banquet. The stunning blow being felt, the moc- 
casin had closed his mouth and was apparently resigned to his 
fate. Fastening his upper teeth upon the occipitals, and distend- 
ing his os quadratum, the king snake held the head of his victim 
in his mouth, the tail of the latter still wriggling uneasily. 
coiling became tighter and tighter, a slight noise like the crack- 
ling of bones was heard, accompanied by a tremor which shook 
both alike, and the two, victor and vanquished, now twisted up m 
a labyrinthine knot, rolled over and over like a spent ball froma _ 
cannon 
Taking them from the box, I uncoiled and stretched them out — * 
on the floor where they appeared like a double tailed snake with- 
out ahead. This gave relief to the moccasin who, although his 
head, as far as the atlas, was firmly held between the jaws of his 
antagonist, wriggled manfully with renewed strength obtained by 
a release from the constrictor’s folds. The king snake was ae 
at a disadvantage, as noted from the movements of his tail. 
Way repast, was two hours. d 
Only a scientific consideration prompted me to destroy eee E 
dissect my useful cannibal, for he had already eaten seven 0 = 
snakes while in ‘captivity. 
This note must be added. Ophiophagi, or snake eating $ ee 
prefer other victims, and prey on their own species only % 2 
count of the absence of their regular food— ohn T. Humpir 
Burke Co., N. C. 
ces, 
