SMOOTH SNAKE. 153 



years later. It has been found since in other parts of Hamp- 

 shire, in Dorset, Surrey, and Berkshire ; in some places 

 abundantly, especially those in which the Sand Lizard occurs, 

 this being the Smooth Snake's favourite prey. Its usual resorts 

 are heaths, stony wastes and wooded hillsides. Its food 

 consists mainly of Lizards, but it also takes young Snakes and 

 Slow-worms ; occasionally it consumes mice and mice-like 

 mammals including the Voles and Shrews. When these are 

 sufficiently large it is said to coil around them in Boa-con- 

 strictor fashion. 



Pairing takes place soon after emergence from hibernation in 

 spring. As in the case of the Slow-worm and the Common 

 Lizard, the eggs are retained until the young are ready to 

 hatch out, and they are born about the end of August. They 

 vary in number from two to fifteen, but usually there are about 

 six to a birth. They are enveloped in a thin membrane which 

 is ruptured immediately, and the Snakes are seen to be about 

 five or six inches in length. 



Like the Grass Snake this species emits an objectionable 

 odour when captured, and at first attempts to bite, but this un- 

 friendly phase passes quickly, and it becomes perfectly tame 

 and exhibits a considerable amount of intelligence. 



It may be as well to add that, if we count the rows of small 

 scales on the back and sides of either of our non-venomous 

 Snakes, we shall find there are nineteen of them. In the Viper 

 there are twenty-one rows rarely nineteen or twenty-three. 

 Each one of these scales is marked with a tiny pit which 

 appears to coincide with the end of a nerve fibre, so that one 

 may say the sense of touch resides in every separate scale. 

 The head is less distinct from the body than is the case in the 

 Grass Snake ; and the slender tail is one-fourth of the entire 

 length in the male and one-sixth in the female. 



The Smooth Snake is found throughout the greater part of 

 Europe. 



