LAKES PROVINCE. 339 



Cumberland." — Rev. H. A. Macpherson, M.A., ' Fauna 

 of Lakeland/ p. lxxviii. 



North of England. 



" The viper is pretty common in Westmoreland, 

 Cumberland, and those parts of Lancashire included 

 in the Lake District. This is especially the case in 

 the low-lying lands in the neighbourhood of More- 

 cambe Bay and the Sol way Firth. The largest living 

 adder I have sent to me for inspection measured 28J 

 inches, and was found in the locality of Staveley in 

 the summer of 1890. I have records of adders 

 measuring 29 J, 29 h, and 31 inches. The average in 

 Lakeland I should put at about 17 inches. 



" The ring snake is rather rare in Westmoreland, 

 but fairly common in suitable places in Cumberland 

 and in the Furness district." — G. W. Murdoch, Miln- 

 thorpe, Westmoreland. 



Lake District. 



"One Sunday in August 1897 Mr Clarke, who lias 

 charge of the wood above Chapel Hill, Langdale, told 

 me he had just killed a snake which he had seen 

 once before in the spring, but on that occasion it 

 eluded him. Although he had looked many times 

 in the interval for it, he had never seen it again till 

 this day on which he killed it. I walked up to his 

 cottage in the wood, and there he had an adder 19 

 inches long. Mr Clarke had been in charge of this 



