Doctor Bronson asked their host if he had ever seen these serpents attacked by hawks or eagles; the answer was in the negative, and then the Doctor told how he once witnessed a fight between an American hawk and a mocasson snake or adder. The bird seized the snake, and rose with him in the air; he was probably a hundred feet from the ground, when suddenly the hawk threw back his head and fell as though he had been shot. [Illustration: FIGHT BETWEEN A HAWK AND A SNAKE.] The Doctor ran to the spot, and found that the snake had bitten the hawk in the throat, and killed him with his poison. But the grip of the bird was firm, and the snake was fixed in the sharp claws, so that he could not get away, and speedily died from the wound. "We have a snake in Ceylon," the host remarked, "that lives entirely on other snakes, especially cobras. He is entirely harmless to man, and you may be sure we treat him kindly, and encourage his presence around our premises. He is called 'raja-samp' by the natives, and his scientific name is _Bungarus fasciatus_. There is also a large hooded snake in India, but rarely seen in Ceylon, that is a great devourer of snakes, and he will swallow his own brother as readily as any other serpent." [Illustration: FIGHT BETWEEN A BLACK SNAKE AND A RATTLESNAKE.] "We have no snakes in America," replied the Doctor, "that live on their kindred, but there are several of our reptiles that show a great hatred for each other. For example, the rattlesnake and the common black snake of the Eastern States are far from friendly, and when they meet there is pretty sure to be a battle. The rattlesnake coils itself for a spring, while the black snake moves rapidly from side to side to distract the attention of its antagonist, and to bewilder him. Finally, the rattler settles down with his head in the air and his mouth open, and then the other moves rapidly in a circular direction, and prepares to close the preliminaries by coming to the work. "The rattler is bewildered in attempting to follow the movements of the black snake; the latter sees his chance and darts at the throat of his adversary, and at the same time encircles him in his folds. The black snake is a constrictor, which the other is not, and as soon as the grip is made his powers of constriction are exercised. He winds about the rattlesnake, and every moment draws his folds more tightly. The latter has no chance to use his fangs, and the combat in nineteen cases out of twenty results in favor of the black snake. Evidently he fights from pure love of combat, for he does not attempt to eat his fallen foe." On their return to Kandy our friends went to see the great curiosity for which the place is celebrated--a tooth of the founder of the Buddhist religion.