268 BRITISH SERPENTS. 



in Stakes Wood some years later. Three feet is a 

 usual length here for this species." — W. Pearce, 

 East Cranbourne Road, Gosport. 



Sussex. 



" In the east part of the county the ring snake is 

 the most common snake, but near the sea the adder 

 becomes the more common. The ring snake averages 

 from 24 to 26 inches in length, the adder about 18 

 inches. Occasionally the ring snake attains a length 

 of 3 feet. I have not heard of the smooth snake. I 

 have taken several female specimens of adders in 

 young, all of which have been of a dull brownish- 

 yellow in colour. I have a specimen preserved 

 which is of a ruddy tint and about 16 inches long. 

 I kept both adders and ring snakes for some time, 

 and knew a good many localities for them near 

 Hastings and Lye, the above being the result of my 

 own observations." — L. B. Hall, 1 Quarry Place, 

 Hastings (now 7 Union Road, Tufnell Park, London). 



" I think that the ring snake is diminishing in 

 numbers, perhaps owing to the ease with which it is 

 caught and killed. The adder, on the other hand, 

 seems to be on the increase in some localities, and, 

 on the whole, I have seen it the more frequently 

 of the two. It averages often about 13 inches, 

 though I have found it up to 18 inches in the 

 western part of the county. The ring snake is 

 generally about 28 inches long; the largest I have 



