CHAPTER IV. 



THE RING SNAK E . 



Sub-order i, OPHIDIA COLUBRIFORMES. Family, Colubrida. 

 Group, Natridda. Genus, Tropidonotus. Species, natrix. 



THIS is the largest of the three British snakes, and is usually 

 between three and four feet long, occasionally attaining five feet 

 or even more. Excepting the little lizard, Zootica vivipara, it is 

 the commonest of our reptiles, and in various localities is known 

 as the " green snake," the " hedge snake,' 7 "water snake," u grass 

 snake," the "ring snake," etc. Compared with the viper it 

 may be called " green," or greenish, but it is rather of an olive- 

 grey, dotted with black down the back, and with a series of 

 confluent spots or short wavy lines on its sides. The abdominal 

 shields are smooth and of a pale yellow, or a greenish-white, 

 mottled with black. The " ring " is a well-defined mark or pair 

 of marks, generally of a golden colour, at the back of the head or 

 'neck," and rendered still more vivid by the contiguous deep 

 black triangular spots behind them. These marks are more 

 ^properly a collar than a "ring," as is evident from its specific 

 torquata, as called by some naturalists. Its generic name 

 Tropidonotus is from the keeled scales on the back (rpaTn,?, T/ooTriSas, 

 a keel ; vo>T09, back, keel-backed), not quite so prominently 

 carinated as in the viper, or to destroy the comparatively smooth 

 surface, yet with the distinct mid-rib or keel. The head is ovate, 

 somewhat depressed, covered with large plates, and distinct from 

 the neck ; the body is long, slender, and tapering gradually from 

 the largest part to the tail, which is about one quarter the length, 

 and with a double row z>i scuta beneath (fig. 14). Its present specific 

 name natrix (in Latin, a water snake) indicates its aquatic pro- 

 pensities. Though not strictly one of the water snakes, which 

 live entirely in rivers and streams, it is never far from water, swims 

 with ease, and has been seen a considerable distance from land. 



