The Green Forest tribune., 1911-03-17
COBRA NOT A DEADLY FOE
Defeated sy Crow In Attempt to Rob 5irds' Nest-Feat of the Snake
 Charmer.

According to a correspondent of 6 Ceylon paper, the Spoila Zeylancia, the cobra is not as dangerous a snake as his popular reputation would make him. In at least two instances, in- stead of fascinating birds, this writer said that he saw cobras chased by birds. On another occasion, he witness ed the catching of a cobra, and watch ed a native make it dance. In neither instance did the snake seem to have any surprising kind of power. The first case happened near Horana.
 A group of people were gazing at the top of a large breadfruit tree I asked them what they were looking at, and they told me that crow was fighting an intruder into it's nest, sit uated at the very top of the tree. The crow was ctrcling at close quarters, and pecking hard at the nest, cawing loudly all the time. The nest was some 40 feet above ground.
 Presently a snake came out of the nest and started climbing down the tree, with a crow in hot pursuit be- hind 1t, pecking at 1t all the time, the snake hissing hard at every blow. It took refuge about ten feet down, in a
 clump of dead ferns, from which 1t was chased out by the crow It came from branch to branch until 1t reached large horizontal limb. which stretched out about twenty feet
 Here the snake was at great disad- vantage, as 1t could not turn upon the crow. The latter seemed to know it, and it's tactics were excellent It would peck hard near the spine, close to the tail, and then peck near it's neck. At each peck pieces of the snakes skin were torn out, and the snake would stop; but as soon as it started moving, the crow would peck at 1t again with extraordinary surety of aim After fully fifteen minutes on the branch two large patches had been torn out of the snake, which was evidently becoming exhausted
 On another occasion two Indian snake charmers came to my small bungalow at Hanwella They had three snakes with them. and proceeded to make them dance, as usual I stopped them and told them that I had seen all that before, and asked them wheth- CT they could compel a wild snake to dance, and if so whether they could catch one for the purpose One of them expressed his willingness to do so.
 Ten days previously I had chased a cobra of the species called by the na- tives "tom-tom beater," that Is, the black cobra with the red spectacle mark on it's hood. The Cingalese, I believe, think that they are reincarna- tions of low caste natives. They are certainly fierce and more active than the common brown cobras.
 I had noticed at the time that 1t had taken refuge in an ant hill near the edge of the paddy field which formed one boundary of the new clearing upon which my bungalow stood, and situated about two hundred feet from it. I led the charmer to this ant hill. When I had assured him that a snake almost certainly occupied the hole, he squatted down opposite to it and started blowing into a reed pipe, which gave a sound similar to that of bag pipe.
 After long time, and when l had almost given up the idea of the snake being there still the cobra protruded it's head about an inch out of the hole in order, presumably, to see what was going on. The charmer bounced upon 1t, and seizing the head of the snake between his thumb and two fingers so that it could not open it's mouth, he pulled it out of the white ants nest and brought it to the bungalow
 He then tried to make it dance by holding small piece of white root above its head. The snake tried to es- cape several times, but was brought back again, and ultimately was in- duced to dance with its hood extend ed. So far as I could judge, it was the same snake that I had noticed before.