144 BRITISIL SERPENTS. 
killed when curled up together ;! and a correspondent 
tells me that he once struck at an adder with his stick 
at this season, and not until he had killed the reptile 
did he notice that there were two together. Several 
farmers have told me that they have often killed an 
adder, and on setting fire to the gorse-bush or thicket 
by which it was lying, a second adder was driven out 
by the heat. It is a practical point worth remember- 
ing, that should an adder be encountered in the spring, 
it is well to keep a look-out for a second specimen in 
the same spot. 
Time of birth of the young.—With all deference 
to a writer in a well-known encyclopedia, it is hardly 
the case that the adder “ brings forth in April or May” 
her family—at any rate in this country. The process 
of development takes about four months, and as the 
pairing occurs in the spring, the young are born in 
late summer or autumn. This of course refers to 
adders in their natural habitats, not in captivity, 
where the conditions might be different. The first 
two weeks in September are perhaps the most. fre- 
quent date of birth, varying a few weeks with the 
season and locality. At this time the females become 
very sluggish in their movements from the weight 
they have to carry, and can be captured with greater 
ease than at any other period of the year, if they can 
be found. But just before parturition takes place 
1 
“Bunching ” is also used to refer to amass of adders hibernating 
together. 
