256 BKITISH SERPENTS. 



"The ring snake is getting scarcer year by year. 

 The largest ones found are, as a rule, about 30 inches 

 long. 



"The smooth snake does not occur in this neigh- 

 bourhood." — Rev. Gregory C. Bateman, Low Down, 

 R.S.O., Devon. 



Somerset. 



" The ring snake is the commonest snake in the 

 lowlands ; in the higher lands (Mendip) the adder is 

 the more frequent. We rarely find the adder in the 

 low-lying lands bordering the moors. On the slopes 

 both are met with, the ring snake being the more 

 numerous. On the top of Mendip, which is nearly 

 1000 feet up, one rarely finds the ring snake, while 

 the adder is common ; and I have come across them 

 many a time coiled up in the sun under the firs. 

 The full-grown adder averages 27 inches long, the 

 full-grown ring- snake 3 feet. The smooth snake does 

 not occur, as far as I know." — H. E. Balch, W. Laura 

 Place, Wells. 



" In the neighbourhood of Glastonbury ring snakes 

 are plentiful, the largest I have measured being 3 feet 

 3 inches. Adders are met with among the peat- 

 cuttings and low-lying parts of Mid-Somerset. The 

 largest I have seen was 2 feet 2 inches. There are 

 a number of adders on the Quantock Hills : my 

 brother killed one there about 12 inches long, and 

 a labourer passing by told us that was about the 



