WILD LIFE 101 



The ring-snake, though found in the valleys, is 

 exceedingly rare on the high downs. But the snake 

 compared with the adder is a great traveller, and he is 

 sometimes met with miles away from the low meadows 

 and pasture lands where the frog abides; and I will 

 conclude this chapter with a strange story of a big 

 snake found by a shepherd boy on one of the highest 

 points of the South Downs, between the villages of 

 Jevington and Willingdon. He was an intelligent 

 boy of thirteen, and finding him in a lonely spot with 

 his flock I stopped to have a chat with him, and he 

 was delighted to talk about the small birds, the foxes, 

 rabbits, adders, and other inhabitants of the furze 

 bushes known to him. After some talk I said good- 

 bye and went on; but had not walked fifty yards 

 before he came running after me, to say that he had 

 forgotten to tell me about the big snake. One day 

 last summer he was with his flock near a wheat field, 

 and in the corn he found a skylark's nest, with five 

 young birds in it. In the evening he told two of his 

 playmates about the nest ; and next day they all went 

 together to visit it, and agreed to take the young birds 

 home and bring them up in cages ; and as young larks 

 usually die when taken small they planned to leave 

 them in the nest until they were grown and almost 

 ready to fly. When the proper time came, and the 

 birds were nearly ready to make their escape, they 

 went to the field with a cage ; but on arriving at the 

 spot found the nest empty, and a huge snake lying 



