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CHAPTER II. 
TROPIDONOTUS NATRLY, OR THE RING SNAKE. 
DISTRIBUTION — DESCRIPTION SIZE 
FOOD—REPRODUCTION—ANATOMY 
AND CLASSIFICATION. 
MARKINGS — HAUNTS — 
FREQUENCY—SYNONYMS 
Distribution.—The rine snake is by far the most 
numerous of the British serpents; but while this is so 
it by no means follows that its distribution is uniform 
throughout the country, and indeed this is far from 
being actually the case. Its detailed distribution is 
considered under the head of “ County Distribution” 
later, but it may be noted here that this species is 
practically absent from Scotland, occurring only in 
one or two of the south-eastern counties, and there 
but rarely. In the north of England, too, it is scarce, 
the Cumbrian mountains apparently offering an ob- 
struction to its progress on the north-west. 
The ring snake is seen in greatest abundance in 
Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, and in some of the Welsh 
counties; but it has a universal distribution through- 
out the south of England, except in some restricted 
