1902 Reptile Studies 105 



The inhabitants of the New Forest, Hants, have a say- 

 ing that " adders are fattest in March month." When the 

 reptiles first become active after the winter, the first thing 

 they do is to cast a slough, and next they set about mak- 

 ing up arrears of food as soon as possible and with great 

 activity. A snake at the end of the hibernating period is a 

 very attenuated object indeed, but two or three weeks make 

 a wonderful difference, and by the end of March they are 

 usually quite plump and in first-rate condition. At this 

 time it is no uncommon thing to find two or three mice 

 in the stomach of adders, and the ring snakes gorge them- 

 selves with tadpoles and young frogs as soon as the latter 

 are obtainable. An early visit to a pond in a neighbourhood 

 where ring snakes occur will generally find them busy feed- 

 ing, capturing their food often in the water, but bringing it 

 to land to devour. Seven o'clock in the morning is perhaps 

 the best time to see this, while the dew is still on the grass 

 and the sun's rays are not yet powerful. The adder feeds 

 from daylight onwards, but passes the heat of the day 

 digesting and basking in the sun. Amongst the lizards, 

 the slow-worm prefers to feed soon after sunset, or at any 

 time of the day after a shower of rain. The favourite food 

 of this lizard is the common slug, of which the slow-worm 

 consumes vast quantities, and as the slugs are most active in 

 the evening and after rain, it arranges its meals accordingly. 

 An extraordinary sight it is to see a ring snake devouring a 

 frog, the anatomical arrangements of the jaws allowing ot 

 immense dilatation, but the process is too well known to 

 need any description here. Very interesting to watch, also, 

 is the slow-worm feeding. The slug is seldom taken unless 

 it is moving. The slow-worm gradually approaches, poises 

 its head in a delicate curve just over the slug, then with a 

 quick movement seizes the mollusc by the middle. There is 

 then a period of a few moments during which the reptile 

 remains motionless ; the slug meanwhile contracts and 

 exudes frothy bubbles. A sudden wide gape of the jaws 

 — as far as the fixed jaw allows of distension — and the slug 

 disappears head-first down the slow-worm's throat, to the 

 accompaniment of gaping and licking of the jaws on the 

 part of the slow-worm. I have seen a slow-worm in one 



