REPTILES IN THE TARN AND THE GREEN LANES 99 



of the blindworm, which are like those of Jizarcls. 

 Other features they have also refer them to the 

 lizard family ; so that, altogether, there can be no 

 mistake as to which group they should be placed in. 

 We have scarcely a commoner reptile than fhis 

 pretty little "creature, always excepting in Ireland. 

 You are almost sure to find it coiled up in the mossy 

 hollow on the sunny side of one of these lanes. We 

 have frequently found it in deserted birds'-nests. and 



ig. 74. 



Head of Blindworm. 



well remember, when a boy, and when we regarded 

 all the snake kind with equal suspicion, the horror 

 that thrilled through us when we inserted the hand 

 into some nest we knew of, to feel if the eggs were 

 all right, and felt the cold presence of a blindworm 

 instead ! Like the viper, the blindworm brings 

 forth its young alive, eight or ten in number. 

 This, however is due to the eggs being kept in the 

 body of the mother until they are hatched. The 

 scientific name of this species (fragilis) is not badly 

 earned, for whenever the blindworm is taken hold of 

 or alarmed, it becomes quite rigid, and the end of 

 the tail will then break like a rotten stick. Notwith- 



H 2 



