94 ANNALS OF SCOTTISH NATURAL HISTORY 



under the name of C. dumfrisiensis, but the specimen was 

 afterwards otherwise identified. 



The case of T. natrix, the Ring or Grass Snake, is 

 somewhat different, and a good many cases of this snake 

 being found in Scotland are on record. These cases are of 

 two kinds : (i) those which are obviously captures of snakes 

 which have escaped from captivity (for this species is a very 

 favourite vivarium pet), and (2) those which are genuinely 

 indigenous captures. These latter are restricted to the 

 south-eastern part of Scotland, viz. the counties of Rox- 

 burgh and Berwick. I do not know of any other part of 

 the country where the Ring Snake is habitually observed, 

 but should be glad to be corrected on this point if I am 



wrong. 



Every now and then statements appear in the Press 

 concerning the killing of snakes in parts of Scotland, which 

 would seem to indicate that the specimens belonged to the 

 Ringed species. Thus a writer in the "Scotsman," 2ist 

 June 1900, says that ''serpents, not adders, of from 3 feet 

 upwards are known in the Highlands. The biggest I have 

 heard of was 4 feet 4 inches, killed by a Donald Macleod, 

 shepherd, Cearbhaig, near Cape Wrath." This is a fairly 

 circumstantial statement, and if the measurement is correct 

 the reptile was probably a T. natrix. Unfortunately these 

 statements, as a rule, turn out upon investigation to be 

 untrustworthy. The measurements of snakes, unless made 

 by a tape measure, have a marvellous knack of doubling 

 themselves in a very short time, and extemely few people 

 can estimate the length of a snake accurately by the eye. 



After careful consideration of the evidence of the Ring 

 Snake ever having been indigenous in Scotland, Mr. Wm. 

 Evans comes to the conclusion that " although probably at 

 one time a native of the Lowlands of Scotland (including 

 the Lothians), the Ringed Snake does not now exist there 

 as an indigenous animal. As an escape, or an introduced 

 species it may, no doubt, now and again manage to establish 

 itself in a way, but only, I fear, for a comparatively brief 

 period at the best." * 



The Ring Snake is so commonly kept in captivity that 



1 "British Serpents," pp. 355, 356. 



