306 REPTILES. 



When feeding, the adder moves its jaws over the surface 

 of its prey, the fangs working independently; and although 

 its bite is rarely fatal, or even productive of serious results, 

 save when the reptile is in unusually good condition and 

 the patient the reverse, it is always best to avoid it. Sheep 

 have been known to die at once from its bite. It is thought 

 that, on the whole, men and monkeys succumb more fre- 

 quently to snake-bite than other animals. Dr Stradling 

 has record of five fatal cases in this country. The food of 

 the adder consists of mice and various lizards, small birds 

 and their eggs, and insects. It has been denied that snakes 

 eat insects, but Dr Stradling recently watched a green whip- 

 snake in Ceylon taking quantities of ants from an ant-hill. 



The Common, or Ringed, Snake, an absolutely harm- 

 less creature, is distinguished from the adder by the ab- 

 Common sence of the V-patch ; besides which, it has a 

 or Kinged, yellow patch on either side the head, form- 

 Snake. j n g a kind of collar, as well as some dark 

 blotches on the sides of the body, the general shade of 

 which is greenish. This is the largest of our snakes, 

 growing to a length of nearly 6 feet, though I never 

 managed to obtain one more than about 33 inches. Lord 

 Londesborough had one of 5 feet 8 inches from the New 

 Forest. It feeds on frogs, which are seized by the hind- 

 leg and swallowed alive, having been known to survive 

 the passage down the throat, toads, rejected by almost 

 every other living creature, birds and their eggs, mice 

 and newts the last-named being often captured in the 

 water, but invariably consumed on the bank. Both toads 

 and newts are highly deleterious food. This snake is ap- 

 parently rare in Scotland. It is oviparous, depositing 

 between two and four dozen leathery-shelled eggs in any 

 convenient manure-heap ; and these eggs have been known 

 to remain unhatched through the winter and hatch out the 

 following spring. They absorb moisture, and grow to 

 twice the original size. The young are very dark at first, 

 the collar only being light. 



