14 BRITISH SERPENTS. 
of the neck than on the back of the snake. Behind 
this again the general body colour is olive - green, 
darker above than below, shading off into a light 
greenish-yellow on the sides of the body, the ventral 
surface (that which is in contact with the ground 
when the snake is in motion) being dark bluish- 
black. Along the sides of the lone attenuated body 
are two rows of irregularly shaped black patches, 
one row on either side of the body. Above these 
on the back are two parallel rows of smaller black 
spots. The young are darker all over when first 
born, but they soon show all the brilliant hues 
of their elders, the yellow collar becoming very 
bright in a few weeks. In a specimen about two 
months old it is noticeable that the two largest 
head-plates (the posterior ones, that is) are of a 
distinetly darker colour than the anterior ones. 
Size.—The ring snake grows to a far greater length 
than does either the adder or the smooth snake, vary- 
ing in different localities. The average length of the 
adult may be said to be from 30 to 36 inches (though 
when a snake becomes an adult precisely is very 
difficult to say). Much larger ones, however, have 
been recorded. F. G. Aflalo mentions that Lord 
Londesborough had one measuring 5 feet 8 inches, 
from the New Forest. Such a length is of course 
most exceptional, and it is very rarely that specimens 
of 5 feet are taken. I once got one of 40 inches 
in’ North Monmouthshire, near Abergavenny, the 
