A HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE 



2. Blind-worm or Slow-worm. Anguls fra- 



gilis, Linn. 



Not uncommon in similar situations to 

 those affected by the common lizard. The 

 blind-worm varies greatly in colour according 

 to age. The young, for some time after 

 birth, are nearly white above and black below. 

 Half-grown individuals are sometimes copper 

 coloured, whilst mature specimens, especially 

 females, become dark grey and so thick as to 

 be mistaken for vipers at a casual glance by 

 unsophisticated persons. Although usually the 

 most gentle of reptiles and possessing only the 

 startling habit of suddenly breaking off the 

 tail when seized, such aged individuals will 

 occasionally, though rarely, strike at the hand 

 in a very snake-like manner. 



OPHIDIA 



3. Common Ringed or Grass Snake. Tropi- 



donotus natrix, Linn. 



Ray Natrix torquata. 

 Generally distributed, but becoming more 



rare every year, although it holds its own 

 against the advance of cultivation far better 

 than does the viper or even the blind-worm. 



4. Viper or Adder. Vipera berus, Linn. 



Occurs at Chartley Park, Cannock Chase 

 and other places in the county, but is de- 

 creasing in numbers as its haunts become 

 drained and the land cultivated. It was 

 formerly abundant at Chartley, where Sir 

 Oswald Mosley records that in a single day's 

 shooting he has ' disturbed several of them ; 

 and their venomous bite has sometimes proved 

 fatal to valuable pointers, which stand at them 

 as if they had the scent of game ' (Natural 

 History of Tutbury, p. 60). 



Although the viper varies a great deal in- 

 dividually both in ground colour and markings, 

 this is largely a matter of sex ; bright, light- 

 coloured specimens with a black, well defined 

 zig-zag dorsal line being males, whilst the 

 shorter, thinner-tailed females are brown or 

 reddish with the markings more indistinct. 



BATRACHIANS 



ECAUDATA 



1. Common Frog. Rana temporaria, Linn. 

 Common and generally distributed. 



2. Common Toad. Bufo vulgaris, Laur. 

 Fairly abundant. 



CAUDATA 



3. Great Crested or Warty Newt. Molge 



crlitata, Laur. 

 Common in ponds and ditches. 



4. Smooth Newt. Molge vulgaris, Linn. 

 Abundant in similar situations to the last. 



This species possesses the power of restoring 

 its damaged members, and is sometimes met 

 with having additional toes on either the fore 

 or the hind feet. Mr. James Yates, M.R.C.S., 

 of Cambridge, for many years resident in Staf- 

 fordshire, writes me under date 4 February, 

 1901, that he has frequently seen newts in 

 cellars from which they could not set out in 

 search of ponds, and in such places he has 

 ' seen their eggs connected together like a 



string of pearls.' This is also the case, 

 according to my own experience, when the 

 ova are deposited in water containing no 

 aquatic plants. Ordinarily, as is well known, 

 the female newt carefully encloses each egg 

 in the coil of a leaf which forms a hollow 

 cylinder around it, and whilst it protects the 

 egg allows free access of water to the develop- 

 ing embryo. 



5. Palmated Newt. Molge pa/mata, Sch. 



Mr. J. R. B. Masefield, M.A., informs me 

 that he has a note of the occurrence of this 

 interesting species of newt in the south of the 

 county, but in Staffordshire it would seem to 

 be local, as I have been unable to meet with 

 it in mid-Staffordshire, and Mr. Masefield 

 himself has failed to obtain it in the Cheadle 

 district. 



The palmated newt, especially when im- 

 mature, is doubtless frequently confused with 

 the smooth newt, from which however it can 

 always be distinguished by its unspotted throat, 

 and the male in the breeding season by his web- 

 bed feet and the curious mucro or thread at 

 the end of his tail. 



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