NOTES. 
175 
by the fluttering of wings. I approached the place cautiously, 
and at first made out two ordinary sparrows circling about a nest 
placed at the top of a thin and flexible shoot about 4 ft. high. They 
were evidently greatly distressed and very angry, so much so that, 
although I came within 3 ft. of their nest, they paid no attention to 
my presence, but continued circling and pecking hard at something 
inside their nest. I thought at first some thieving bird had taken 
possession of it; it seemed of large size, as its continual movement 
inside the nest, to avoid the pecking, made the shoot sway back¬ 
wards and forwards violently. All at once a cobra about 4 ft. long, 
so far as I could judge, sprang from the nest to the ground and dis¬ 
appeared in the jungle. I was greatly surprised, as I never expected 
a snake of that size to have been able to climb the shoot, which 
seemed much too thin to support its weight, or to enter the nest at 
all, and above all to remain hidden in it so long. In this instance 
the sparrows appeared to have not the slightest fear of the cobra. 
There was no doubt about the species of the snake, as I could see its 
hood extended as it fled. 
The second instance happened in 1896, near Horana. I was 
returning to my camp about 3 p.m. when I saw a group of people 
gazing at the top of a large breadfruit tree. I asked them what they 
were looking at, and they told me that a crow was fighting an 
intruder into its nest situated at the very top of the tree. The crow 
was circling at close quarters and pecking hard at the nest, cawing 
loudly all the time. The nest was at some 40 ft. above ground. 
Presently a snake came out of the nest and started climbing down 
the tree, with the crow in hot pursuit behind it, pecking at it all the 
time, the snake hissing hard at every blow. It took refuge about 
10 ft. down in a clump of dead ferns, from which it was chased out by 
the crow, and it came from branch to branch until it reached a large 
horizontal one, which stretched out about 20 ft. Here the snake was 
at great disadvantage, as it could not turn upon the crow. The 
latter seemed to know it, and its tactics were splendid. It would 
peck hard near the spine close to the tail and then peck near its neck. 
At each peck pieces of the snake’s skin were torn, and the snake 
would stop ; but as soon as it started moving the crow would peck 
at it again with extraordinary surety of aim. After fully 15 minutes 
on the branch two large patches had been torn out of the snake, 
which was evidently getting exhausted. At last one of the pecks 
must have landed on a more sensitive portion, as the cobra tried to 
turn to strike, but lost its balance and fell to the ground. Before 
I could stop them, it was despatched by two of the spectators, and 
the crow flew away. It was a pity, as I should have liked to have 
seen the finish of the fight, which was a most determined one. What 
struck me as remarkable was the extraordinary endurance of the 
crow, which was on the wing from start to finish for at least 20 
minutes. 
