14 BRITISH SERPENTS. 



of the neck than on the back of the snake. Behind 

 this again the general body colour is olive -green, 

 darker above than below, shading off into a light 

 greenish-yellow on the sides of the body, the ventral 

 surface (that which is in contact with the ground 

 when the snake is in motion) being dark bluish- 

 black. Along the sides of the long attenuated body 

 are two rows of irregularly shaped black patches, 

 one row on either side of the body. Above these 

 on the back are two parallel rows of smaller black 

 spots. The young are darker all over when first 

 born, but they soon show all the brilliant hues 

 of their elders, the yellow collar becoming very 

 bright in a few weeks. In a specimen about two 

 months old it is noticeable that the two largest 

 head-plates (the posterior ones, that is) are of a 

 distinctly darker colour than the anterior ones. 



Size. — The ring snake grows to a far greater length 

 than does either the adder or the smooth snake, vary- 

 ing in different localities. The average length of the 

 adult may be said to be from 30 to 36 inches (though 

 when a snake becomes an adult precisely is very 

 difficult to say). Much larger ones, however, have 

 been recorded. F. G. Aflalo mentions that Lord 

 Londesborough had one measuring 5 feet 8 inches, 

 from the New Forest. Such a length is of course 

 most exceptional, and it is very rarely that specimens 

 of 5 feet are taken. I once got one of 40 inches 

 in North Monmouthshire, near Abergavenny, the 



