BRITISH REPTILES 
posed occurrence in Britain of a second distinct species of 
Viper, known as the Small Red Viper, which might be 
called Vipera rubra. It is said to have occurred in my 
own native Hertfordshire, as well as Berkshire, Devon, 
Dorset, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Sussex, 
and Scotland. Indeed it has now been recorded from 
fifteen English counties. In both colour and size it is 
quite distinctive, and it seems high time that this Snake 
was promoted to specific rank. It is much less timid 
than V. berus, hisses more vigorously, and shows fight to 
a much greater extent. An average length may perhaps 
be given as 12 inches (almost one half less than the 
average length of an adult Adder), and the coppery, 
ferruginous, or red colour, with darker markings of the 
same, at once distinguish it. The one natural enemy of 
the Adder in Britain seems to be our wily old friend the 
Hedgehog who, it appears, maddens the Snake to such 
an extent that the latter eventually strikes at the Hedge- 
hog, and breaks its own neck as a result of the force of 
the impact against the profuse armour of spines. The 
popular name of Adder comes from the Anglo-Saxon 
‘a neddre,” “an eddre, an adder.” 
Grass Snake.—Trepidonotus natrix (Fig. 2). Belongs 
to the Family Colubride, and is also known as the Green, 
Hedge, Ringed, and Water Snake. The specific name 
natrix indicates that this Snake is fond of inhabiting 
places near water. It is one of our commonest reptiles, 
and yet in districts where one would expect to locate it, 
it is strangely absent. Whether this is due to the 
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