THE SLOW-WORM, ANGUIS FRAGILIS 41 



south they are often seen later. The places selected 

 for passing the period of torpidity are under thick 

 masses of fallen autumn leaves, in burrows, and 

 especially at the bottom of a heap of stones. 



As far as I have observed, these lizards are not so 

 apt to congregate in numbers to hibernate as do the 

 snakes, but I have several times found six and seven 

 together under masses of stone. Bright warm days in 

 the winter months will sometimes bring them out of 

 their hiding-place, especially in December, but they 

 are rarely seen in January and early February, except 

 in such counties as Cornwall and Dorset. 



Enemies. — It is always of interest in sketching the 

 life of any animal to note what are the other animals 

 which prey upon it. In the case of our reptiles these 

 enemies seem to be very few, for the simple reason 

 that other reptiles are few in this country, and small 

 reptiles have more to fear from larger reptiles than 

 from most other animals. As far as the slow-worm 

 is concerned, the adder or viper is by far the most 

 dangerous and persistent foe, large numbers of slow- 

 worms being taken by adders for food. Indeed, the 

 adder is the only animal that the present writer is 

 aware of which does this habitually, though it is quite 

 possible that some large birds, rats, and the hedgehog, 

 may also account for a certain number. An illustration 

 elsewhere shows an adder which was captured in the 

 act of swallowing a slow-worm, 4 inches of the tail 

 of which were protruding from the mouth of the 



