REPTILES 

 AND BATRACHIANS 



Great Britain possesses seven species of reptiles and six batrachians, 

 including the edible frog {Rana esculenta) , which is probably an intro- 

 duction from the continent. It has however ' come to stay,' and has 

 stayed so long that it may now fairly rank as a British species. Of these 

 thirteen species Worcestershire has eleven, five of the reptiles, and six 

 of the batrachians. It has both the lizards {Lacerta vivipara and L. agilis) 

 and the slow-worm {Anguis fragilis) . But all of them seem to be decreas- 

 ing in numbers, especially the slow-worm, which is now seldom seen 

 even in places where it was formerly common. 



Two of the three snakes are also resident : the ring snake [Tropidonotus 

 natrix) and the adder {Vipera berus). There is no trustworthy record of 

 the third, the smooth snake {Coronella austriaca), having ever been seen 

 in the county, possibly because its favourite food the lizard is by no 

 means abundant. The ring snake is fairly common ; so is the adder in 

 certain places, especially in Wyre Forest. 



Of the batrachians the common frog [Rana temporaria) is abundant 

 everywhere, but R. esculenta has not yet been found in the county. The 

 toad {Bufo vulgaris) is a common resident, but is at times more abundant 

 than at others. There are but few records of the appearance of the 

 natterjack toad {Bufo calamita) ; one was found on Dodderhill Common 

 on August 29th, 1860.^ 



Of the newts the great crested newt {Molge cristata) is common, so 

 is the common newt {M. vulgaris), but the palmated newt {M. palmatd) 

 is only locally plentiful. It is often confounded with and mistaken for 

 the common newt, whose company it frequents, 



REPTILES 



LACERTILIA has been found, as well as on Hartlebury 



I. Common or Viviparous Lizard. Lacerta Common and in Wyre Forest. 



vivipara, Jacq. 2. Sand Lizard. Lacerta agilis, Linn. 

 Although so abundant in the southern coun- Pennant, in his British Zoology (vol. iii. 



ties of England, the present small species is p. 12, 1769) mentions a lizard which was 



rare in Worcestershire, or at any rate very killed at Wollescote in the parish of Old Swin- 



seldom observed, owing no doubt in some ford, Worcestershire, in 172 1, measuring 2 feet 



measure to its unattractive appearance. There 6 inches in length, and having a girth of 



is however every reason to conclude that 4 inches ; the forelegs were 8 inches from 



careful search would discover it in localities the head, and the hind legs 5 inches from 



where it has not yet been noticed. On them, and the legs themselves 2 inches in 



the Ridgeway, which divides the counties length. That statement of dimensions is 



of Worcester and Warwick, this small lizard wholly incredible, and doubtless Pennant was 



1 Transactions iVorcestershire Naturalists' Club, i. p. 60. 

 137 



