334 BRITISH SEKPENTS. 



Northumberland and District. 



"The ring snake is by no means so plentiful in 

 Northumberland as the common viper, but is oc- 

 casionally to be met with in different parts of the 

 county. It is perhaps more plentiful in the upper 

 reaches of Wooler water than in any other part of 

 the district, at least such is my experience. In the 

 deep, rocky, weird - looking ravine on the eastern 

 slopes of the Cheviots, known as the Glitters, I 

 have seldom failed to find individuals of this species, 

 stretched upon the clefts of precipitous rocks, clinging 

 to the branches of overhanging shrubs, or crawling 

 through the herbage on the steep and heathy bank- 

 sides, where formerly the raven and the peregrine 

 falcon used to build their nests, but where they now 

 no longer find a refuge and a home. Sometimes the 

 ring snake makes his appearance close to the village 

 of Wooler, and some time ago a large individual was 

 killed in Middleton plantation whilst engaged in 

 twisting itself round a branch of a tree. We have 

 met with examples of it at Chillingham, Crookham, 

 and some other half-dozen places in the county. On 

 one occasion I saw one killed near to Warkworth 

 Hermitage, a little below Warkworth Mills, on the 

 river Coquet. It is, perhaps, more plentiful in 

 Durham than in Northumberland, especially in the 

 western part of the county, and is frequently met 

 with on the Wear ; and three or four years ago one 



