THREE COMMON REPTILES 



other spot beloved by the common snake, 

 not to start back in alarm, and hit it with the 

 first stick that comes handy, but to remember 

 that it is only a harmless creature, unable to 

 defend itself or hurt any one. That hiss which 

 it makes when startled, the way it raises its 

 head, and the forked black tongue which 

 flickers to and fro, are not signs of a poison- 

 ous reptile, but merely the bluff with which 

 a helpless defenceless one tries to make its 

 enemies leave it alone. 



(There are only three species of Lizard in Great 

 Britain, namely, the Slowworm, Anguis fragilis, 

 the Common Lizard, Lacerta vivipara, and the Sand 

 Lizard, Lacerta agilis. The latter is only found in 

 certain districts where there are sand hills, so has 

 not been referred to in the foregoing account. Our 

 snakes are also three, being the rare Smooth Snake, 

 Caronella austriaca, which occurs in sandy districts 

 in company with the Sand Lizard upon which it preys ; 

 the Adder, Viperus berus, chiefly found in heathery 

 and moorland localities ; and the common Grass 

 Snake, Tropidonotus natrix, which is often abundant 

 in our southern counties, but is seldom if ever found 

 in Scotland, while of course it is absent from Ireland, 

 as no snake of any kind is found in that island.) 



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