584 



THE NATURE BOOK 



forward. 



In the case of the gorged Adder it is 

 usual to find that a mouse has been 

 swallowed head first, and we may assume, 

 in the absence of any record whate\-er 

 of a mature Adder feeding naturally in 



recurved, so that little effort is needed to conscious of his predicament. I ha\'e 

 shift the grip on his victims a tooth or so already referred to instances of his being 



disgorged alive and uninjured. 



A Grass Snake who is cornered, presents, 

 if he be a sizable snake, a bold front to 

 adversity. He hisses loudly, sometimes 

 opens his mouth, flattens the nape of his 

 neck, emits a singularly noisome smell, 

 and swings himself back or side- 

 ways as though about to strike. 

 Sometimes he actually does 

 strike, but it is a lash rather 

 than a lunge. The usual attack 

 of the Python or Boa is a lash 

 of the head and the fore-part of 

 the body, the constricting force 

 being held in reserve, and only 

 employed when a serious meal 

 is contemplated. Our Smooth 

 Snake, who shows fight in much 

 the same way as the Grass 

 Snake (but emits no smell), 

 affords a further resemblance to 

 the older type in his habit of 

 winding a coil of himself round 

 his intended meal, and another 

 coil round some fixed support. 



The Smooth Snake is unques- 



tionabty scarce in this country, 



being confined to the heath and 



pine country in the south. The 



fact that the Sand Lizard is 



found in the same localities is 



fair presumpti%'e evidence that 



Sand Lizards form part of his 



normal food, but it is going too far -to 



say that they form the whole of his food. 



The heath and pine country has a 



characteristic fauna, and is especially rich 



in insects. From the success of the Rev. 



O. Pickard-Cambridge's experiment — he 



kept a specimen of the Smooth Snake in 



good order for several months by feeding 



it on bluebottles — we may assume that 



the Smooth Snake at large has a catholic 



taste. 



In point of size (eighteen inches to two 

 feet), and in the markings on his skin, 

 the Smooth Snake displays a super- 

 ficial resemblance to the Adder. Exam- 

 ination of the photographs will show, how- 

 ever, that his build is essentially Colubrine, 

 and that his markings afford a distinct 

 means of recognition. 



The " V " at the back of his head is 

 heart-shaped. Behind it come parallel 



THE RARE BRITISH SMOOTH SNAKE. 



The body markings should be compared with those of the Adder, and 

 the heart-shaped V at the back of the head noticed. 



captivity, that a mouse who does not 

 present himself in a convenient " lie," 

 is paralysed and then adjusted to siut the 

 Adder's convenience. It must be re- 

 membered in this connection that an 

 Adder's fangs are brittle, and need careful 

 nursing, and that he has no "border" 

 teeth in the upper jaw. 



As far as captive Grass Snakes are con- 

 cerned, I have found that a frog or newt 

 is just as likely to be swallowed feet 

 first as head first. This may, in part, 

 be due to the fact that amphibian skulls 

 are easily compressible and amphibian 

 teeth insignificant. Generally the frog 

 is caught by one hind-leg, which is soon 

 joined by its fellow. The whole process 

 is singularly horrible to watch, and I 

 feel I need make no apology for illus- 

 trating the last phase only, though I 

 cannot think that the frog is in any way 



