68 BRITISH SERPENTS. 



have observed that adders do likewise, and the fact 

 that one often finds portions of sloughs in snaky places 

 proves that the habit of swallowing them is by no 

 means invariable. The ring snake is very irregular in 



^ 



Fig. 11. — Eye-covering op Adder. 



the matter of sloughing, occasionally going through 

 the process as often as five times in a season, with 

 longer or shorter intervals between the different 

 sloughings. Young ring snakes and young adders 

 always cast their first slough very soon after birth. 

 The process begins at the head, the cuticle being 



