212 BRITISH SERPENTS. 



not the amount of colour variation we saw in the 

 adder, the only variation being in shade, from bright 

 copper colour to a darker mahogany shade. The tail 

 is very sharply marked off from the body in females, 

 and ends in a very fine point. 



Size. — If the colour of this species is distinctive, 

 the size is no less so. As in the adder, the average 

 length varies somewhat in different localities, but the 

 largest small red viper is hardly the length of the 

 smallest adult adder. The adult adder averages from 

 18 to ^5 inches ; the small red viper averages from 10 

 to 15 inches in length. The most common measure- 

 ment is about 12 inches. This is of some practical 

 importance, as only last year my attention was drawn 

 to a statement in some newspaper correspondence, 

 where a writer informed his readers that they need 

 never be afraid of the larger snakes in this country, 

 as our sole venomous serpent was only about 10 inches 

 long. It turned out that his experience had been 

 gained in a part of Devonshire where the small red 

 viper occurred, and this was the only kind he was 

 familiar with. I mention this because it is a proof of 

 my contention for the validity of the species. 



Venomous, &c. — In places where the small red 

 viper is found it is regarded as being particularly 

 venomous, and more to be feared than the ordinary 

 adder. Whether this is really so or not I cannot say, 

 but there is no doubt that it is more pugnacious and 

 less timid. On beinq- disturbed it does not seem to 



