114 THE BRITISH REPTILES. 



the blue throat patch is not conspicuous and only appears during 

 the breeding season. The young are pale brown with yellow streaks 

 on the side. The eggs, from eight to eleven in number, are laid in 

 the sand in June and hatched, by the sun's heat, in July. The 

 Green Lizard is said to have been found in England ; it certainly 

 exists in Jersey, which brings it within the British fauna, its true 

 home is in the rocky districts of Central and Southern Europe, 

 whence it ranges into South-western Asia. Like our two other 

 lizards it goes into winter quarters in October, and does not awake 

 from its long sleep until spring is well advanced and the weather 

 warm enough for its habits and its food. It is said to prefer butter- 

 flies to flies and gnats, but really nothing small and alive in the 

 animal way comes amiss to it and the others. 



Sphargis. Plate xxvii. AT 'H EC A. 



74. coriacea, LEATHERY TURTLE. No epidermal shields; carapace 

 consisting of small plates covered with leathery skin. 



This widely-distributed turtle has become British by being 

 caught two or three times in British waters. It is interesting as 

 being the only living representative of what used to be a rather 

 extensive family. The carapace is continuous all round and has a 

 pointed end. In colour it is dark brown above with yellow spots, 

 the legs and tail being black. The fore legs are twice as long as the 

 hind legs ; and it measures about six feet six in length. It is 

 as often described under the generic name of Dennochelys as under 

 that of Sphargis, but the latter is the older, and seems to have been 

 given it for the noise the first specimen made when being killed. 

 As a British animal its only habit worth noticing is that of blundering 

 into a fishing net about once in a century and causing a considerable 

 amount of damage and excitement. 



Tropidonotus. Plate xxix. OPHIDIA . 



79. natrix, RINGED SNAKE. Black collar, frequently with a white 



or yellow one, more or less incomplete, in front of it. 



The Common, Ringed or Grass Snake is found in England and 

 Wales, but does not cross St. George's Channel or, apparently, the 

 Tweed, though in Scandinavia it ranges up to the latitude of the 

 Vigten Islands. It has teeth in both jaws, the maxillary teeth 

 decreasing in length towards the front, those in the upper jaw being 

 thirty or less in number. The scales on the back are oval, distinctly 

 keeled, and in nineteen rows ; the plates on the under surface are single 

 and extend from side to side, those under the tail being in pairs. 

 The head is ovate, depressed, and wider than the neck, and has seven 

 upper labial shields, the third and fourth of which reach the aper- 

 ture of the eye. The labials are white or yellowish. The colour 

 above ranges from deep olive brown to pale greyish green, the under 

 parts being white, speckled with black, and tinged with grey. On 

 the back there are generally two parallel rows of blackish dots, and 

 along the side there are black patches. In length this snake has 

 been known to exceed six feet, but it is generally three feet or less, the 



