"Oh do, please," said his sister. "I"ll go and bring your new book.""Well then," began Fred, as soon as they were seated, "suppose we talk about their habits of feeding. Snakes are as curious in their feeding as in everything else.
"They all live on animals. Some of the smaller snakes prey upon frogs, mice, rabbits, and other creatures they find on the ground. Some live almost entirely in the trees, and feed upon squirrels, birds, and even monkeys. But they all feed in one way.
"Animals like the cat, the dog, and the mole alsolive on flesh.
"How could we find this out for ourselves, if wedid not know?""
"We should examine the teeth of the animals," said Norah. "That would tell us.""Ah, but the strangest part of the snake is," saidFred, "that it has no long canine teeth for tearing flesh, and no sharp jagged teeth for cutting it through. The flesh-eaters have, but the snake has not. Snakes are not flesh-eaters.""Why, I thought you just now told me," saidNorah, "that all snakes feed on flesh."
