A HISTORY OF BUCKINGHAMSHIRE 



and after the creature had been killed by one of the keepers it was 

 opened and the young ones were found to be alive and well. An 

 old labourer, now in my employ, named Arthur Figg, who was born 

 at Ascot near Princes Risborough, and spent his early days in that 

 locality, tells me that when a boy he used to catch vipers in a 

 curious way. A red rag was tied at the end of a stick, and with 

 this the reptile was teased until it became cross, when it would strike 

 at and seize the rag in its mouth and was then easily despatched. If vipers 

 became particularly abundant in any spot they were killed by setting fire 

 to the bushes and undergrowth. The farmers had a habit of feeding 

 them to keep them from attacking the cows. It is to be feared, too, that 

 the popular belief that lizards and newts ' dry efts ' and ' wet efts,' as 

 they are called by the country people can sting is responsible for 

 the destruction of a great many of these harmless creatures. Especially 

 is this true in the case of the lizards, which are now comparatively 

 rare in Buckinghamshire. 



REPTILES 



LACERTILIA 



1. Common Lizard. Lacerta vivipara t 



Jacq. 



There can be little doubt that this is 

 generally distributed over the county, but I 

 am only able to mention two localities in 

 which it has been seen. Mr. T. D. Phil- 

 lips of The Woodlands, Aspley Heath, 

 records that it is to be found in dry summers 

 in that district. Arthur Figg informs me 

 that it used to be abundant in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Hampden Park, darting about 

 the hedge-banks or basking on stone heaps by 

 the wayside. 



2. Sand Lizard. Lacerta agilis, Lichtenst. 



Mr. T. D. Phillips reports this species as 

 occurring ' not commonly,' and Mr. Alfred 

 Howard of Luton, formerly of Chesham, 

 informs me that it is to be found on Amer- 

 sham Common. 



3. Slow-worm or Blind-worm. Anguis fra- 



gilis, Linn. 



This harmless creature is the most common 

 reptile in many parts of the county. 

 Although a lizard, it is generally looked upon 

 by country people as a snake and destroyed. 

 Instead of being a foe to man it is really a 

 good friend, its food consisting of slugs, 

 worms and insects, and for this reason alone 

 deserves to be spared. Mr. Alfred Howard 

 says that it is plentiful on the baulks near 

 Chesham ; Arthur Figg used to find it in the 

 neighbourhood of his old home at Ascot, and 



Mr. Phillips states that it is the commonest 

 reptile on the Bedfordshire border, but that 

 in 1903 he only saw two specimens. 



OPHIDIA 



4. Common Ringed or Grass Snake. Tro- 



pidonotui natrix, Linn. 



Arthur Figg tells me that he used fre- 

 quently to find this snake in the district lying 

 between Princes Risborough, Ellesborough 

 and Little Missenden. Mr. Phillips says 

 the species is by no means common in his 

 neighbourhood. Mr. Elliman was shown by 

 a gamekeeper two or three years ago three 

 fine specimens of the ringed snake strung up 

 in a hedge near Chesham, his record of its 

 occurrence in that neighbourhood being con- 

 firmed by Dr. Churchill of the same town, 

 who speaks of both this species and the viper 

 occurring there. Mr. Alfred Howard men- 

 tions the neighbourhood of Amersham as a 

 locality for Tropldonotus natrix. 



5. Viper or Adder. Vipera berus, Linn. 



This reptile appears to be generally pre- 

 sent, though as before mentioned it is not 

 now common. Mr. E. George Elliman of 

 the Broadway, Chesham, writes that in the 

 summer of 1893 he disturbed three adders 

 lying together sunning themselves at the edge 

 of a clump of beech trees on the Aston Hills. 

 He killed one of them which measured about 

 twelve inches long, the two which escaped 

 being about the same length. Mr. T. D. 

 Phillips remarks that he has mostly noticed 



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