346 BPJTISH SERPENTS. 



tents of the same nest. Although, as is well known, 

 reptiles take a considerable time to " suck in " and 

 swallow their prey, the birds must have become its 

 victims at the same time, as the three were intact, 

 with no appearance of assimilation or digestion having 

 commenced. What surprises one is the remarkable 

 powers of distension of the mouth and throat which 

 makes it possible for an adder to swallow anything 

 approaching to the size of a lark. 



It is now over twenty years since I recorded having 

 witnessed an adder attempting to drag a grouse chick 

 a few days old into a hole. It had seized the chick 

 by the neck, and blood was squirting out at both 

 sides of the reptile's mouth. On another occasion, 

 when approaching a tuft of heather where a grey 

 hen was sitting on her eggs, I found the bird evidently 

 in great distress. On approaching she flew a short 

 distance, when I espied an adder killing a newly 

 hatched chick, while three others lay dead. 



Where grouse are numerous on a moor it is easy 

 to see how an entire brood, when very young, may 

 be killed and devoured by an adder. Fortunately 

 reptiles do not require to feed often, or the destruction 

 to young game would be incalculable. 



Should any of your readers, in view of " Eoin's " 

 letter, record the measurements of adders, it would 

 be interesting, indeed, if they would also dissect tliem 

 and mention on what they had been feeding. — I am, 

 &c., Tom Speedy. 



