VIPERA 257 



this Viper is stated to be more active than that 

 of V. berus and V. aspis, and, as the snake is very 

 common in some parts of Austria and the Balkan 

 Peninsula, fatal accidents to man are frequent. 



The food consists of small mammals and birds, 

 and also of lizards. V. ammodytes does much better 

 in captivity than its European congeners, and takes 

 food more readily. 



The hissing is louder than in V. berus and V. aspis, 

 and it is often produced, on the approach of man, 

 by specimens lying in such perfect concealment that 

 their presence would not otherwise be suspected ; 

 this habit, like the rattling of the Crotalus, is evi- 

 dently detrimental to the species in its relation 

 to man. 



This species is extremely abundant in some parts 

 of Austria, and over 7,000 specimens were killed in 

 a district of Southern Styria in the course of two 

 years (1892, 1893). According to Werner, it is the 

 commonest of all snakes in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 



Reproduction. — Pairing takes place in the spring, 

 sooner or later according to altitudes, and the young, 

 five to fourteen in number, are born in August. 



27. Vipera lebetina, Linnaeus 

 The Blunt - Nosed Viper, or Kufi 



Form. — Short and heavy. Snout rounded, obtuse, 

 usually with well-marked canthus, and the loreal 

 region slanting towards the mouth. Eye small, its 

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