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 

 w^as 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 Colubridce, 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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