A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE 



misinformed as to the size of the creature ; 

 but there is one part of it which needs a 

 passing notice, namely, the very small girth 

 in relation to the length. The Rev. Mr. 

 Shephard, who first recorded the species as 

 British in the Transactions of the Linnean 

 Society for i8o2, described it as being up- 

 wards of a foot long. Professor Bell also, in 

 his History of British Reptiles, mentions hav- 

 ing seen lizards of this species approaching 

 that length, but the Rev. Leonard Jenyns, 

 whose accuracy is unquestionable, gives in his 

 Manual of British Vertebrate Animals, 7 inches 

 as the total length. 



The sand lizard is met with in Worcester- 

 shire : Pennant gives Tenbury, as well as the 

 places above mentioned, as a locality, and in 

 parts of Wyre Forest and near Kidderminster 

 it is still to be found. The present writer re- 

 ceived one, which was taken on the Worcester- 

 shire side of the park at Ragley, the seat of the 

 Marquis of Hertford, which measured a little 

 over 8 inches in length, and another of 

 smaller size, which was captured when remov- 

 ing some rubbish at the entrance to the ex- 

 cavations for gypsum at Spurnal near Alcester. 

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

 gilis, Linn. 



This reptile, according to Hastings, is rather 

 less common than the snake, but whatever it 



was in 1834, it is certainly rarer now. It 

 may occasionally be seen on elevated stony 

 places, but is almost unknown in the valleys. 

 It is still found in some numbers in parts of 

 Wyre Forest and in Habberley Valley. 



OPHIDIA 



4. Common or Ringed Snake. Tropidonotus 



natrix, Linn. {Natrix torquata, Ray.) 

 Too numerous and too generally distributed 

 to require particular notice. In spite of per- 

 secution it holds its own. It is very common 

 in the damp osier-beds and coppices in the 

 Teme valley. 



5. Common Viper or Adder. Vipera berus, 



Linn. 

 A common reptile in all suitable localities, 

 such as waste sandy and stony places. In parts 

 of Wyre Forest it is very plentiful. Hastings 

 mentions the Trench Woods, the neighbour- 

 hood of Malvern, and the Breedon and Ab- 

 berley hills as localities where it is found, 

 and there are many other places in the 

 county which it frequents. At Cracomb 

 near Fladbury Mr. H. E. Strickland dis- 

 covered the variety known as the red viper, 

 of which he contributed an account to Low- 

 don's Magazine of Natural History which 

 appears at page 399 of vol. vi. 



BATRACHIANS 



ECAUDATA 

 Common Frog. Rana temporaria, Linn. 



Common in every meadow, pool and ditch, 

 as well as on the margins of the streams. 



2. Common Toad. Bufo vulgaris, Laur. 

 Common, but not so abundant as the frog. 



The toad is easily tamed with gentle treat- 

 ment, and will follow the hand to take flies 

 from the fingers. Gardeners like to introduce 

 the toad into the cucumber and melon frame, 

 where it consumes a great quantity of insects 

 and sometimes attains to a great size. It is 

 far more plentiful in some years than in others. 



3. Natterjack Toad. Bufo calamita (Laur.). 

 Although this toad is easily distinguished 



from B. vulgaris by the yellow line on the 

 back, yet its appearance is very seldom re- 

 ported, partly because it usually occurs in places 

 where toads are not looked for, e.g. sandy 

 commons and wastes, and partly because to 

 most persons a toad is a toad and nothing 

 more. A specimen was taken in August, 

 i860, on Dodderhill Common,' and doubtless 

 other specimens would be found if looked for 

 1 Tram. Worcestershire Naturalises' Club, i. p. 60. 



in similar and suitable localities. This toad 

 seems to live in colonies, and these colonies 

 migrate, disappearing from a locality for a time, 

 and then after an interval of longer or shorter 

 duration appearing again. 



CAUDATA 



Newt. Molge 



4. Great Crested 



Laur. 

 Common in stagnant waters, pools, ditches 

 and other places. 



5. Common Newt. Molge vulgaris, Linn. 

 Like the last species it is found in stagnant 



water, but more frequently out of it, in 

 damp cellars or other underground places. 

 It is also sometimes found in winter in holes 

 in banks of earth or rubbish. 



6. Palmated Newt. Molge palmata, Schn. 

 Although this is the most widely distributed 



of all the newts, yet its recorded occurrences 

 in Worcestershire are few, probably because 

 it has been mistaken for M. vulgaris, in 

 whose company it is often found. It can be 

 distinguished by the absence of colour on the 

 throat, which is of a pale flesh tint. 



138 



