Oven-birds 
and 
Black Snake 
t/z/M 
V 
and its authors — for there were evidently several — were 
plainly advancing directly toward me. I soon made out that 
they were Oven Birds and that they were on or near the 
ground, which although free from underbrush was nevertheless 
well shaded by an abundant growth of sarsaparilla. Finally 
the dry leaves began to rustle and the sarsaparilla stems 
to wave directly in front of ray position and the next moment 
a black snake about three feet long emerged into an opening, 
gliding swiftly and in a perfectly direct course. On each 
side of the slightly raised head and within less than two 
feet of it, walked a pair of Oven Birds, their bills open 
and panting; their wings slightly raised and quivering so 
rapidly as to produce a hazy appearance above their bodies. 
They kept their distance exactly, and when the snake stopped 
they stopped also, apparently not looking at him but facing 
directly ahead. They were also seemingly ignored by the 
snake although he doubtless kept a not less keen side watch 
on them than they did on him. The entire group,which final¬ 
ly halted within less than ten yards of me, presented a 
remarkable, not to say ludicrous spectacle and at once sug¬ 
gested the idea that birds were in trained attendance on 
the snake, a well-drilled escort, as it were, to guide or 
guard him during his morning crawl. I ended what was likely 
enough to prove a tragedy to the birds by shooting the snake. 
