272 THE Z00LO(ilST. 



I have seeu Adders of very different colour living on the same kind of soil, 

 and have seen them killed within a few yards of one another. I am 

 speaking of the country about Dorking and Leith Hill, and there I used to 

 see them of various colours — dull yellowish brown, with the dorsal spots 

 dark brown ; lighter yellow, with red spots ; reddish grey, with red spots ; 

 very light greenish grey, with black spots ; and some almost black all 

 over. I never saw the handsome dark red variety. As far as I can 

 recollect, they have all red-coloured eyes. I should much like to know 

 the size that Adders have attained to. The largest I killed, and which 

 I measured before it was quite dead, was 26 inches, and I saw two others 

 killed about the same time and place, which were both 24 inches. These 

 sizes are undoubtedly above the average, but I fancy that considerably 

 larger ones have been obtained. The 20-inch one was dull yellow, with 

 dark brown spots, and on being captured gave out a strong smell, which 

 fact I have never seeu alluded to in any book. One of the other two was 

 a little darker in colour than the one just described, and the other was very 

 light grey, with jet-black markings, just out of his old skin, and one of the 

 handsomest I ever saw. When the yellowish red ones are " clean moulted" 

 they look very like a gold bracelet, when coiled up, basking in the sun. 

 I kept some alive for several months, and tried to entice them to eat with 

 all sorts of dainties, such as small frogs, mice, young birds, slugs, lizards, 

 and bread-and-milk ; these — with the exception, of course, of the last- 

 mentioned dish — I used to give them alive, but they refused everything 

 except two unhappy lizards. These they certainly ate, although I did not 

 witness the operation. I kept them in a large box, with perforated zinc in 

 the sides and a sliding glass top ; sand, stones, and moss inside. I used to 

 let them out to have a run occasionally, and always picked them up by 

 their tails to put them back into their box. When carried by the tail they 

 are harmless, as they are unable to curl up to reach the hand, although 

 they make strenuous efforts to do so. But I should be very sorry to 

 attempt to pick up by the tail a wild Adder without first pinning him 

 to the ground with a stick on his neck. Referring back to the Lizards 

 which I gave them, I observed that they evinced signs of great terror on 

 being introduced to the Adders, rushing about frantically in all directions, 

 as if they very well knew what an Adder was; and I have no doubt that 

 they are constantly preyed upon by Adders in a wild state. T hope that 

 this will be borne out by others who have studied these interesting, and to 

 my mind handsome, creatures, as I have not yet seen anything but mice 

 reported as their food. In catching Adders on the move with a forked 

 stick, one must aim well forward, or a clean miss will be the inevitable 

 result. They can be carried home dangling to a string tied round their 

 necks.— G. E. Lodge (5, Verulam Buildings, Gray's Inn). 



