Note 303 — Chapter V · Magic Rites connected with the Several Departments of Nature (continued 2)

“One of the pit vipers is exceedingly sluggish in its movements, and will remain in the same place for days together. One individual that was watched, lay coiled up on the branch of a tree for five days, and probably would have remained much longer, but at the end of that time it was caught and preserved. The Malays call it ular kapak daun, and they say that it is fed three times a day by birds, who bring it insects to eat. One man went so far as to say that he had actually once seen some birds engaged in feeding one of these beautiful bright-green snakes.”303