At first he 'd sit and stare about him , as if much amazed to find himself there ; then he 'd scratch his little round head and begin to scold violently , which seemed to delight the other monkeys ; and , finally , he 'd examine his poor little tail , and appear to understand the misfortune which had befallen him . The funny expression of his face was irresistible , and I enjoyed seeing him very much , and gave him a bun to comfort him when I went away . The snake-house came next , and I went in , on my way to visit the rhinoceros family . I rather like snakes , since I had a tame green one , who lived under the door-step , and would come out and play with me on sunny days . These snakes I found very interesting , only they got under their blankets and would n't come out , and I was n't allowed to poke them ; so I missed seeing several of the most curious . An ugly cobra laid and blinked at me through the glass , looking quite as dangerous as he was . There were big and little snakes , -- black , brown , and speckled , lively and lazy , pretty and plain ones , -- but I liked the great boa best . When I came to his cage , I did n't see anything but the branch of a tree , such as I had seen in other cages , for the snakes to wind up and down . ` Where is he , I wonder ? I hope he has n't got out , ' I said to myself , thinking of a story I read once of a person in a menagerie , who turned suddenly and saw a great boa gliding towards him . As I stood wondering if the big worm could be under the little flat blanket before me , the branch began to move all at once , and with a start , I saw a limb swing down to stare at me with the boa 's glittering eyes . He was so exactly the colour of the bare bough , and lay so still , I had not seen him till he came to take a look at me . A very villainous-looking reptile he was , and I felt grateful that I did n't live in a country where such unpleasant neighbours might pop in upon you unexpectedly . He was kind enough to take a promenade and show me his size , which seemed immense , as he stretched himself , and then knotted his rough grayish body into a great loop , with the fiery-eyed head in the middle . He was not one of the largest kind , but I was quite satisfied , and left him to his dinner of rabbits , which I had n't the heart to stay and see him devour alive . I was walking toward the camel 's pagoda , when , all of a sudden , a long , dark , curling thing came over my shoulder , and I felt warm breath in my face . ` It 's the boa ; ' I thought , and gave a skip which carried me into the hedge , where I stuck , much to the amusement of some children riding on the elephant whose trunk had frightened me . He had politely tried to tell me to clear the way , which I certainly had done with all speed . Picking myself out of the hedge I walked beside him , examining his clumsy feet and peering up at his small , intelligent eye . I 'm very sure he winked at me , as if enjoying the joke , and kept poking his trunk into my pocket , hoping to find something eatable .
I XXXXX as if I had got into a foreign country as I looked about me and saw elephants and camels walking among the trees ; flocks of snow-white cranes stalking over the grass , on their long scarlet legs ; striped Zebras racing in their paddock ; queer kangaroos hopping about , with little ones in their pouches ; pretty antelopes chasing one another ; and , in an immense wire-covered aviary , all sorts of brilliant birds were flying about as gaily as if at home .
Picking felt got knotted laid play said skip stay walked