REPTILES 

 AND BATRACHIANS 



There are few if any published records of the occurrence of even the 

 commonest species of reptiles and batrachians in Buckinghamshire, but 

 enquiries made of observers in different districts show that of our six 

 species of native reptiles five are to be found within the confines of the 

 county. The absentee is the smooth snake (Coronella /tevis), whose 

 claim to be considered a British species is now generally admitted, but, 

 although common on the continent, it is of rather rare occurrence in this 

 country. There is, I think, no reason why it should not be found in the 

 county, for I am informed by Mr. M. D. Hill, B.A., F.Z.S., President of 

 the Windsor and Eton Scientific Society, that both the smooth snake 

 and the sand lizard have been reported from the Ascot district of the 

 adjoining county of Berks. Of the tailless batrachians admitted to the 

 British list three are said to occur, the fourth, which is the edible frog 

 (Rana escu/enta), being an introduced species now naturalized in the Fens 

 and other localities in the eastern counties. The three British caudate 

 batrachians have been observed. 



It is an unfortunate fact that our reptiles are gradually disappear- 

 ing. Snakes are usually killed at sight, probably through inability on 

 the part of most people to distinguish our one venomous species, the 

 adder or viper, from its harmless relatives. Old inhabitants inform me 

 that half a century ago the common ringed snake and the slow-worm 

 were abundant in many parts of the county where they are now infre- 

 quently seen or have altogether disappeared. The adder, too, is far less 

 often met with than in days gone by, when these creatures were a real 

 danger in the places which they frequented. Mr. T. D. Phillips of 

 Aspley Heath informs me that in the Woburn Sands and adjoining dis- 

 tricts, lying on the borders of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, very 

 few reptiles are now found. He recollects when a boy that a different 

 state of things prevailed, and that he and his companions used to organize 

 snake-hunting excursions, seldom returning home without having 

 accounted for four or five of one species or another. Once in early 

 March, when out rabbiting with his father and others, they found such a 

 number of adders in a disused sand-pit that it became necessary to call off 

 the dogs and go to another part of the wood. The same observer con- 

 tributes an interesting personal experience on the vexed question of the 

 female adder swallowing her young for purposes of safety. He states that 

 on the occasion just referred to he actually witnessed this phenomenon, 



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