But there is no greater improbability
in various structures, such as the rattle of the rattle-snake,--
the lateral scales of the Echis,--the neck with the included ribs
of the Cobra,--and the whole body of the puff-adder,--having been
modified for the sake of warning and frightening away their enemies,
than in a bird, namely, the wonderful Secretary-hawk (_Gypogeranus_) having
had its whole frame modified for the sake of killing snakes with impunity.
It is highly probable, judging from what we have before seen,
that this bird would ruffle its feathers whenever it attacked a snake;
and it is certain that the Herpestes, when it eagerly rushes to attack
a snake, erects the hair all over its body, and especially that on its
tail.[32] We have also seen that some porcupines, when angered or alarmed
at the sight of a snake, rapidly vibrate their tails, thus producing
a peculiar sound by the striking together of the hollow quills.
So that here both the attackers and the attacked endeavour to make
themselves as dreadful as possible to each other; and both possess
for this purpose specialised means, which, oddly enough, are nearly
the same in some of these cases.
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