COMMON VIPER. 69 



Strickland adds the fact which I have mentioned above, that 

 the head is much broader and shorter tlian tliat of the 

 Common Viper. The Prince of Miisignano figures, in his 

 Fauna Italica, as the true Chersea, a small Viper, consider- 

 ably similar to our Red Viper, excepting in its colour, which 

 is a light grey, with darker markings. There is in that 

 figure, also, the greater breadth of head which is observable 

 in our animal, together with a still more obtuse rostrum. 

 The Prince**s figure is evidently taken from a young animal, 

 which may possibly belong to a different species. He teniis 

 the V, Berus, " marasso palustre,"' and his V. Cher sea, 

 " marasso alpino,**"* — a distinction certainly not sustained by 

 our two varieties. After all, the question whether it be 

 the Coluber Cher sea of Linneus, and whether, if not so, 

 this last-mentioned species be distinct from the Common 

 Viper, is one of considerable doubt and obscurity. 



The second variety (var. y of Jenyns), is described as 

 a distinct species by the Rev. R. Sheppard in the Linnean 

 Transactions, under the name of Coluber cceruleus, or Blue- 

 bellied Viper. It scarcely even deserves to be considered 

 as a distinct variety, as the plumbeous belly by which 

 it is characterized is rather a difference of degree than of 

 hue. 



