THAMES PROVINCE. 281 



where I have seen as many as a dozen in a day's fly- 

 catching. King snakes are common in almost all parts 

 of Berks. At Bear Wood last season (1900) I saw a 

 great number of them rolling about together near the 

 water, two of which I captured, measuring 32 and 34 

 inches long respectively. I find that the adders vary 

 very much in colour in the same districts. A friend 

 captured a specimen of the small red viper at Tylhurst 

 in this county two years ago, and I took one in the 

 Caversham Warren, Oxfordshire, in the year 1864." — 

 C. N. Allen, 102 Donnington Gardens, Beading. 



" Adders are rare on the north side of the downs, 

 but on the south side, near Hermitage and Newbury, 

 they are met with more frequently. An under-keeper 

 tells me that he has not seen one during seventeen 

 years on the north side. 



" We have many ring snakes, however, on this side 

 of the downs, the size, roughly speaking, being any- 

 thing up to 3 feet. 



" The belief that the adder swallows her young is 

 prevalent here, as in so many other localities." — 

 Eleanor G. Hayden, Steventon, Berks. 



Oxfordshire. 



" Certainly the ringed snake is the most common — 

 roughly speaking, in the proportion of 100 to 1. I 

 am not aware of the occurrence of the smooth snake in 

 this county." — Lilian Veley (Hon. Sec. Nat. Hist. Soc), 

 20 Bradmore Boacl, Oxford. 



