254 BRITISH SERPENTS. 



" The adders are often to be seen in April coiled 

 up together basking in the sun. They are found 

 chiefly on the cliffs, on the moors, and in the brakes ; 

 not being seen so frequently in the heather and ling 

 localities, though adders are often found at the Lizard 

 (i.e., the geographical Lizard). 



"The grass or ring snake is not so common, and 

 the smooth snake unrecorded, in this county." — C. M. 

 Rogers, Perranwell, Cornwall. 



Devonshire. 



" I should certainly say that the adder was more 

 common than the ring snake in this county. Its 

 average length is 18 inches, but one has been killed 

 measuring 33 inches. The ring snake averages 30 

 inches in length, and one in the Torquay Natural 

 History Museum measures 3 feet 8 inches. 



" The smooth snake is not known here." — Alex. 

 Somervail, Torquay Museum. 



" The adder is the more common near the moors, 

 the ring snake in the more cultivated districts. The 

 adder averages about a foot, the ring snake about 

 30 inches, but it is not at all unusual to find ring 

 snakes measuring 3 feet. The smooth snake does 

 not occur, to my knowledge. 



" The number of snakes seen, or their traces in the 

 dusty roads, varies very greatly from year to year : 

 the drier the summer the more the snakes get about." 

 — Edmund A. Elliot, M.R.C.S., Kingsbridge, Devon. 



" Adders, ring snakes, and lizards are all plentiful 



