11 



CHAPTEE IT. 



TBOPIDONOTUS MATRIX, OR THE RING SNAKE. 



DISTRIBUTION — DESCRIPTION — SIZE — MARKINGS — HAUNTS — 

 FOOD — REPRODUCTION — ANATOMY — FREQUENCY — SYNONYMS 

 AND CLASSIFICATION. 



Distribution. — The ring snake is by far the most 

 numerous of the British serpents ; but while this is so 

 it by no means follows that its distribution is uniform 

 throughout the country, and indeed this is far from 

 being actually the case. Its detailed distribution is 

 considered under the head of " County Distribution " 

 later, but it may be noted here that this species is 

 practically absent from Scotland, occurring only in 

 one or two of the south-eastern counties, and there 

 but rarely. In the north of England, too, it is scarce, 

 the Cumbrian mountains apparently offering an ob- 

 struction to its progress on the north-west. 



The ring snake is seen in greatest abundance in 

 Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and in some of the Welsh 

 counties ; but it has a universal distribution through- 

 out the south of England, except in some restricted 



