THAMES PROVINCE. 281 



where I have seen as many as a dozen in a day's fly- 

 catching. Eing snakes are common in almost all parts 

 of Berks. At Bear Wood last season (1900) I saw a 

 great number of them rolling about together near the 

 water, two of which I captured, measuring 32 and 34 

 inches long respectively. I find that the adders vary 

 very much in colour in the same districts. A friend 

 captured a specimen of the small red viper at Tylhurst 

 in this county two years ago, and I took one in the 

 Caversham Warren, Oxfordshire, in the year 1864." — 

 C. N. Allen, 102 Donnington Gardens, Heading. 



"Adders are rare on the north side of the downs, 

 but on the south side, near Hermitage and Newbury, 

 they are met with more frequently. An under-keeper 

 tells me that he has not seen one during seventeen 

 years on the north side. 



" We have many ring snakes, however, on this side 

 of the downs, the size, roughly speaking, being any- 

 thing up to 3 feet. 



" The belief that the adder swallows her young is 

 prevalent here, as in so many other localities." — 

 Eleanor G. Hayden, Steventon, Berks. 



Oxfordshire. 



" Certainly the ringed snake is the most common — 

 roughly speaking, in the proportion of 100 to 1. I 

 am not aware of the occurrence of the smooth snake in 

 this county." — Lilian Veley (Hon. Sec. Nat. Hist. Soc), 

 20 Bradmore Eoad, Oxford. 



