156 COLUBRID.E 



Pall.), or entirely black (var. ater, Eichw.). This 

 melanism never appears until the second or third 

 year of life, the young being marked like the typical 

 form. 



Albinos have occasionally been met with, yellowish 

 flesh-colour with reddish markings, and a white or 

 yellow collar, the eye and the tongue red. Such an 

 albino, from Horsted Keynes, Sussex, is preserved 

 in the British Museum. A remarkable aberration, to 

 be regarded as an imperfect albino, has been found 

 in Dorsetshire, and described as uniform whitish, 

 with a well-defined broad longitudinal central dorsal 

 pale yellow-brown band. 



Size. — May reach a length of 6 feet 8 inches. 

 Such giants, females, known from Sardinia, Sicily, 

 and Istria, are, however, very exceptional, individuals 

 of this species seldom exceeding a length of 4 feet. 

 The largest British specimen on record, from Wales, 

 is stated to measure 5 feet 10 inches. Males rarely 

 exceed 3 feet. 



Monstrosity. — A dicephalous young, with the two 

 well-formed heads side by side, is preserved in the 

 British Museum, and several others have been 

 described, one being reported to have lived for 

 about a month. 



Distribution. — Tropidonotus natrix occurs all over 

 Europe, with, of course, the exception of Ireland, 

 as far north as the extreme south-east of Scotland, 

 and the sixty-fifth degree in Scandinavia and Finland, 



