SOUTH WALES PROVINCE. 311 



tunities of attaining its majority. Ring snakes are 

 certainly seen in larger parties. I have never seen 

 more than one adder at a time, but some time ago 

 my brother and myself were lifting an ancestral 

 tombstone which had fallen. Underneath there were 

 ten ring snakes, the longest about 1 foot in length. 



" The adder averages 18 to 24 inches in this 

 locality." — Frank Davies, Newcastle Emlyn. 



Radnorshire, Caermarthen, Pembroke, and Car- 

 digan. 



" I have been in Kadnorshire for eighteen years, 

 but have never heard of or seen any snakes, though 

 the slow-worm is plentiful. From personal know- 

 ledge of the three other counties above mentioned, 

 I can say that the adder is plentifid in all of them. 

 Several times I have seen the result of their bites 

 on dogs — considerable swelling for 5 inches or so 

 round the spot bitten — but I have never known of 

 death resulting. I once saw a wren's nest full of 

 young dead birds and an adder hanging from the 

 nest. In these latter three counties, also, the ring 

 snake is fairly common, of a grey-blue colour, and 

 generally about 3 feet long." — Eev. J. Herbert, Dis- 

 serth Eectory, Llandrindod, Eadnorshire. 



Cardiganshire. 



" The adder is the common snake in this county. 

 Its average length is about 18 inches. This species 



