SCOTLAND. 361 



Ayrshire and Arran. 



" I have never heard of a ring snake in this district. 

 I once killed an adder on Auchentibber Moss, near 

 here, but have not heard of any in recent years. I 

 also killed one in Glen Sannox in Arran, where adders 

 are still common. I did not measure either of these, 

 but they were not large. In a farmhouse where I 

 stayed on the west side of Arran I was told that the 

 woman there had been bitten on the leg by an adder, 

 and that the limb became ' swollen and black.' Her 

 husband also told me that one day when he was 

 taking down a rick of hay he found it ' full of adders ' 

 (they call them 'serpents' there). The farmer added 

 that his method of killing them was to put tlie heel 

 of his boot on the reptile's head, when ' they aye twist 

 their tail roon ma leg.'" — J. Smith, Monkredding, 

 Kilwinning, Ayrshire. 



Stirling. 



"The adder is fairly common in this county, and 

 averages 20 inches in length. I have not lieard of 

 the ring snake being found, nor do I know of the 

 smooth snake being recorded." — David B. Morris, 

 Stirling, N.B. 



Perthshire. 



" The adder is common in this district : I have seen 

 as many as live in a single day's excursion. This was 



