BRITISH REPTILES 



which had without doubt made good their escape from 

 captivity. One very large specimen of a handsome 

 Green Lizard was caught in my own garden, but it 

 does not come within the province of this book to include 

 such events in its survey. 



Before dealing with the few species of Serpents in- 

 digenous to our own Country, it will be as well to give 

 some general particulars, and instances of folk-lore, old- 

 time beliefs, and superstitions, concerning them. It is 

 probable that Snakes, or Serpents as they are so often 

 designated, are the most unpopular of all living creatures, 

 and the reasons for this, rightly considered, are difficult 

 to ascertain. Included in the Class Reptilia, there are 

 to be found, in addition to the Snakes and Lizards, the 

 Tortoises and Turtles (Order Chelonia), and the Alligators 

 and Crocodiles (Order Crocodilia), but these latter 

 reptiles do not concern us here as they are, of course, not 

 found in a wild condition within the borders of our own 

 land. Other countries, such as North America, where no 

 less than over 350 different species of reptiles occur, are 

 more fortunate, or unfortunate, according to the point 

 of view adopted, but it is probable that few people will 

 lament the fact that our own reptilian fauna is so poorly 

 represented. Whilst, too, there are a great number of 

 Serpents inhabiting the great Continent of Australia, 

 and among them at least seventy venomous kinds, we 

 have in our own island only one species which is harmful. 

 This is the Adder, or Viper (Vipera berus). Of the three 

 species of Snakes we do possess, one, the Smooth Snake 



