26 BRITISH SERPENTS. 



(Glamorgan), when walking along a hedgerow, my 

 attention was attracted by a hissing noise, and on 

 looking into the ditch I saw an adder about 10 inches 

 long, which had been half - swallowed from the tail 

 forwards by a ring snake. The latter was about 3J 

 feet long. The ring snake itself was dead, whether 

 suftbcated or poisoned I am unable to say. I killed 

 the adder, and on examining the ring snake could 

 see no marks of its having been bitten by its 

 adversary." 



A good deal more will be said about this snake 

 in discussing the points of contrast and comparisons 

 with the adder. But there is one matter which must 

 strike the thoughtful student or reader in connection 

 witli this species, and it is this. Seeing that the 

 average number of eggs deposited by each female 

 is about thirty, how is it that these snakes are not 

 found more frequently ? For, after all, it comes as 

 a surprise to meet one of them in a walking tour, not 

 to say in an afternoon stroll. Squirrels and stoats, 

 and many other varieties of animals not nearly so 

 prolific as ring snakes, are encountered, but every 

 one is astonished on meeting a serpent in most parts 

 of England. No doubt the retiring and unobtrusive 

 disposition of the reptile has a good deal to do with 

 its being seen so infrequently, for it will always glide 

 quickly and noiselessly away, if it can, when dis- 

 turbed. Then, too, its protective colouring makes it 

 difficult to see in the grass unless the observer is 



