a moonlight night, and I led him towards a depression in the compound which a recent shower had temporarily filled with water. Treading softly, and on my part very gingerly, we approached the edge of the water. He had the satisfaction of seeing a snake that was frog-hunting glide away into the swamp.
The enemy of all snakes is the eagle. In England it is a rare sight to see one soaring and wheeling overhead, with outspread wings that never seem to beat the air. Alive or dead it fetches a high price. In India it is not worth the expense of powder and shot. It is as common as the crow, although not quite so much in evidence. The eagle tribe, including kites and vultures, spends its time in the dazzling blue overhead, where it is invisible to the human eye. I have watched the sky over the barracks in the morning, when the meat rations were being served out. No sooner did the barrows of beef and mutton appear, than flocks of circling birds caine into sight as if by magic. They were chiefly the brown species, the true kite and the Brahminy kite, which last is more correctly an eagle. I have also seen the hideous vulture, distinguishable by its bare red neck that gives it the appearance of being half plucked for roasting. It has a bold sinister eye when it alights, and it shows no fear at the presence of man, scarcely taking the trouble to stalk away at his approach, Its disgusting predilection for carrion should fill it with shame, and cause it to sneak away like the jackal; instead of which it will swoop down upon a bit of flesh only a few yards from your feet with the impudence of the crow.
The eagle tribe is furnished with terrible claws which are curved and of great length. It strikes its living prey with its feet, and the cruel claws dig deep into the soft flesh, penetrating the vital organs and causing death by internal hæmorrhage. With the snake the claws are less successful, and the reptile is not so easily dispatched. The
