343 



CHAPTEE XXXII. 



SCOTLAND. 



It is unnecessary in the case of Scotland to consider 

 the various biological provinces in detail, because, as 

 far as British serpents are concerned, there is practi- 

 cally only one species found over the whole of the 

 country, and that is the adder. The ring snake is 

 occasionally reported in the extreme south-east, in 

 Roxburghshire and Berwickshire, but never commonly 

 even here. About' 20 inches is a very usual length 

 for the adder everywhere, though large specimens are 

 taken now and then. The ophidian distribution in 

 Scotland is probably a matter of climate more than 

 anything else, and the adder has, among its other 

 characteristics, a greater capacity for standing cold 

 than the ring snake. Its period of hibernation does 

 not seem to be any longer in the northern clime, as 

 it is generally to be seen in Sutherland as soon even 

 as March, which is quite as early as most of the 

 southern counties in England. The black variety 

 of the adder is found in Scotland more frequently 



