﻿VIPERA 225 



Size. — 20 inches appears to be the usual maximum 

 size reached by this species, but, Dr. Werner informs 

 me, a female 2 feet long has been found in Lower 

 Austria. 



Distribution. — First discovered in Italy in the 

 Abruzzi, this species has since been found in the 

 Basses-Alpes, near Digne, in various parts of Hun- 

 gary, in Lower Austria, on the island of Veglia in 

 Istria, and in Bosnia, Bulgaria, Herzegovina, and 

 Montenegro. A very broken and curious distribution, 

 the more so as V. ursinii is essentially a form of the 

 plain in Lower Austria and Hungary, and an alpine 

 form in Italy, in France, and in the Balkan Penin- 

 sula, where it only occurs between 3,000 and 6,800 

 feet. In no part of its habitat does it appear ever to 

 be found in company with V. berus. 



Habits. — Only a few specimens have hitherto been 

 found in Italy and in France, but the species occurred 

 up to a few years ago in extraordinary numbers in 

 Lower Austria, in the immediate vicinity of Laxen- 

 burg. The intendant of the imperial castle pays a pre- 

 mium for the destruction of Vipers, and in the course 

 of one year (1892) more than 1,000 specimens were 

 brought to him. These snakes are found principally, 

 though not exclusively, in the marshy meadows 

 around the park, where they may be seen about in 

 the daytime from May to September, feeding chiefly 

 on lizards {Lacerta agilis), and also on small rodents. 

 The lizards are swallowed as soon as seized, without 

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