137 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES. 
503. Pythons and Tigers. — I happened to take up a few copies, the 
other day, of Nature Notes, and read with interest the remarks made about 
“ Pythons’’ and Tigers. Now I happen to have lived for a considerable time in 
the depths of the jungle in Upper Burma, where snrkes and tigers were frequently 
to be met with, and though I did not trouble myself much about the habits of 
the creatures I came across, yet one thing I could not help noticing was, the 
extraordinary fear that all the large animals had for even the smallest of snakes. 
To my mind, the story of “ Three in a Tree” is absurd, because I am convinced 
that no tiger would willingly remain in a tree if a python were there, quite apart 
from the fact that it is too absurd talking and arguing about a tiger being in a tree 
at all. Still, if a huge python and a tiger did come in contact, as 1 suppose on 
most rare occasions they may have, I do not think that it would be such a one- 
sided affair as my father, the Rev. E. T. Daubeny, supposes. I have killed 
scores of snakes myself in the jungle, and experience taught me that “ that long 
and delicate backbone’’ my father speaks of, takes a great deal more breaking 
than one would ever imagine. What is more, the blow of a snake — especially 
of a huge python, is so tremendous, that it would break nearly every bone in the 
body of even so large an animal as that of a tiger, and leave it almost at the 
mercy of the python. Of course, I know that if a python lay still and allow'ed 
a tiger to do what it liked, the tiger could rip the python to pieces ; but the 
whole idea of their fighting is, to my mind, absurd. The sight of a snake seems 
to almost paralyse the larger animals of the jungle. I have been on an elephant, 
mote than once, when a small snake has been lying in the path. The effect was 
interesting ; the elephant would stop dead and perceptibly shiver, and on being 
goaded by the rider would seem to wake up and to all appearances, by the 
trumpeting, was in a great state of mind. Suddenly the animal would rear up 
on its hind feet and come down with its huge front feet on the wretched snake, 
crushing it to a mere pulp ; and it would take the elephant quite an hour to calm 
down from the excitement caused by the event. Suppose a tiger and a python 
did fight, I for one would back the python, almost for a certainty. What would 
happen if a tiger and a ten-foot Hamadryad (such as I have killed several times) 
came in contact ? Of course, the tiger could easily kill him, but 1 know well the 
tiger would die too ; but such a contact is impossible, because natural instinct has 
taught the tiger never to touch a snake. Quite apart from their poison, a snake 
is a much more powerful thing than many people realise. The force with which 
they strike is simply terrific, as I have cause to remember. Quite a small one 
once struck me on the boot, it was only a small snake of from fifteen to eighteen 
inches in length, but I can remember the pain it caused me to this day. Of 
course, the idea of a python swallowing a tiger is even more absurd than the idea 
of their fighting. 
A. R. Vaughan Daubeny. 
504. The Cuckoo on the 'Wingr.- — It is commonly but erroneously 
supposed that the Cuckoo never utters its cry on the wing. It frequently does 
so, and a few days ago one passed me within a few yards cooing lustily and 
almost incessantly as it flew. By the way, the classical name for the bird 
(auiilus) is an argument for the reformed pronunciation of Latin ; since the 
word is intended, as in English, to express its cry, and this meaning is lost by 
the usual pronunciation. 
Buxted, Sussex, A. L. H. 
June 8, 1907. 
505. The Song-Thrush in Hyde Park.— Although to visitors in Hyde 
Park the Song-Thrush must be a notable figure, I have noticed that, beyond 
a cursory glance at the tree from whence he is heard singing, little attention is 
usually paid him. Scarcely within a hundred yards of the band on Sunday 
evening, June 2, a .Song-Thrush, perched on the topmost branch of a slender 
silver birch, delighted a small audience with its clear, mellow notes. For once in 
a way it was a pleasure to see the people stop and listen to his song, and for some 
time his admirers stayed to listen in the gathering dusk, but, with the last bars of 
