82 BRITISH SERPENTS. 
pared with a ring snake of equal length, it will be 
seen that the appearance of greater bulk is borne out 
in their respective weights, an adder of 2 feet weigh- 
ing considerably more than a ring snake of the same 
leneth. The tail of the adder is much shorter and 
much blunter than that of the ring snake, and is 
generally about one-eighth of the total length of the 
reptile, being slightly longer in males than females. 
The arrangement of the plates on the head differs 
from that noted in the ring snake, and the head 
itself is broader and not so rounded. 
Haunts.—Geuerally speaking, the place to look for 
an adder is the hottest spot in that particular district. 
More definitely, they oceur on commons, on the sum- 
mits of hills, in woods, in fern and bracken, among 
rocks and rough stones, on dry slopes, on sandy banks, 
on the warm side of hedges, on hot grassy banks, on 
heaths, and especially on chalky soil such as is found 
in parts of Kent and Dorset. But there are three 
kinds of places in which adders like to lie above all 
others. These are, first, on the edve of a“ ride” which 
has been cut through the fern for shooting purposes ; 
secondly, on the warm stones of a disused and un- 
frequented quarry (splendid places for reptiles are 
these old quarries); and thirdly, on the top of an ant- 
In. Of all the adders T have taken the vast majority 
have been in one of these three situations. The most 
likely place of all is a patch of fern surrounded by 
woods, for there the adders have both summer and 
