CIIANNKL l'liOVIN(;K. 203 



" I h;iv(i observed that addorH when eau^lit nsually 

 disgorge their last rneal. I liavc; never s(jeM lh(;rii 

 attempt to swallow their yowu'j. 



" It'ing snakeH ch(jose t'resli eow-rjianun; it" avaihtl^Je 

 to lay their eggs in, and th(;y visit the eggs in th(! 

 evening. The eggs are laid in May or June;, hut I 

 caught five ring snakes in a rriannn;-ii(;;i,}j in July this 

 last summer (1900). When taken away, strange to 

 say all the eggs went bad, and not ontj of them eame 

 out"— A. Old, y, P>yne Koad, Sydenham, S,K 



Cknthaj. Dokskt. — " In tliis part of the eounty — a 

 plae(; untouehed at present i^y th(i newest forms of 

 eivilisation, Jinrl nine; miles from the nearest railway 

 station — }>of.}j ring snakes and adders are plentiful, 

 and may be seen in numbers in th(j spring. In my 

 immediate neighbourliood th(jre are large cov<;rts, and 

 frefjuently, when shooting' these for Um last time at 

 th(; end of the winter, adders are killed in nnrnliers. 

 On one occasion, two or threj; yftarfi ago, seven adders 

 were slain by the b(^'it«.'rH in oik; morning at Kings- 

 grove Wood in the parish of Piddletnjnthide. J was 

 present at the time, and besides these seven several 

 more were seen. Kven more common is the ring 

 snake, and I know of one lane which is infested with 

 them in the spring-time. When riding down this lane 

 this yr^ar my horse kept on sliying at the reptiles, 

 which were creeping away in all directions. On 

 another occasion, when shooting in the month of 



