BIRDS 
77 
on the yielding boughs, and traversing 
with marvellous celerity the whole length 
and breadth of the thicket, was truly sur¬ 
prising. One thinks of the great myth, 
of the Tempter and the “cause of all our 
woe/’ and wonders if the Arch One is not 
now playing off some of his pranks be¬ 
fore him. Whether we call it snake or 
devil matters little. 1 could but admire 
his terrible beauty, however, his black, 
shining folds, his easy, gliding move¬ 
ment, head erect, eyes glistening, tongue 
playing like subtile flame, and the invisi¬ 
ble means of his almost winged locomo- 
motion. 
The parent birds, in the mean while, 
kept up the most agonizing cry,—at times 
fluttering furiously about their pursuer, 
and actually laying hold of his tail with 
their beaks and claws. On being thus at¬ 
tacked, the snake would suddenly double 
upon himself and follow his own body 
back, thus executing a strategic move¬ 
ment that at first seemed almost to para¬ 
lyze his victim and place her within his 
grasp. Not quite, however. Before his 
jaws could close upon the coveted prize 
