250 The zoologist. 



that peninsula, common again in Sicily ; and so on. Its habitat 

 extends farther northwards and higher up the sides of mountains 

 than that of the Grass-snake ; it is found a considerable distance 

 above Upsala in Sweden, and in confinement will be observed to 

 exhibit a greater indifference to cold than any other snake. 

 Writing twenty years ago, Dr. Opel remarked that its hj^bernation 

 was neither so long nor so deep as that of other reptiles, and 

 that it generally lay upon the surface, not seeking to bury itself. 

 The first of which we have any record in this country was caught 

 at the beginning of the present century in Dumfries, and nearly 

 fifty years elapsed before the second capture, at Bournemouth, 

 was chronicled ; then a few others were discovered at long 

 intervals, gradually diminishing in duration, however ; and now, 

 curiously enough, the Smooth Snake is apparently becoming 

 more and more abundant every year, though in reality it is, of 

 course, decreasing in numbers as man invades its domain, like 

 everything else — the explanation being that its true nature 

 is now more widely recognised, and that it is not so apt to be 

 confounded with the Viper as it has been hitherto. 



Any dealer on the Continent will supply Smooth Snakes ; 

 here, I believe, they are only to be bought at Bournemouth — 

 most English specimens are captured in the New Forest. Lizards 

 for them may be procured at naturalists' shops. They are 

 viviparous ; rarely drink or bathe ; and their choice of a dry 

 location, like the Adder, to which they bear a superficial resem- 

 blance, leads to a little danger of confusion between the two 

 sometimes, when a snake is found in such a situation. No one 

 who has ever seen a Grass-snake in his life could possibly 

 mistake it for the Viper, nor is there much likelihood of those who 

 have studied the description of the Smooth Snake given in books, 

 especially the arrangement of the plates on the bead, falling 

 into any such error, though they might find it easier to say 

 which was which, in comparing the two together, than to name 

 them without hesitation apart. To the ophiologist there is no 

 likeness between them ; but three rough distinctions may be 

 pointed out to those who have not made themselves acquainted 

 with the generic characteristics which mark the classification. 

 The Smooth Snake's head is long, narrow, and pointed — that of 

 the Viper broad ; the scales on it are large and shield-like, while 

 the Viper's are small ; and the black spots which run in a 



