﻿156 COLUBRID^ 



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 v^ith, 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, 



