242 BRITISH SERPENTS. 
killed some thousands of snakes in his lifetime. The 
average length is fairly uniformly 2} to 5 feet. 
Coronella austriaea.—As one would expect from 
climatic considerations, our reptiles show a decided 
preference for the southern counties of England, and 
this division of the counties includes the only area in 
which the smooth snake is seen at all frequently— 
namely, Bloxworth. It is also found in Hants, but 
more often in Dorset than elsewhere, its peculiarly 
local distribution being hard to account for. Possibly 
a very careful investigation in some other southern 
localities might reveal its presence where it is so far 
unrecorded. 
The small red viper occurs in Dorset and Sussex, 
and in all probability in other parts of this division. 
III. Thames Province. 
Vipera berus,—This is another division prolifie in 
reptiles, especially in its southern portions. The 
chalk downs of Kent are famous for adders, and some 
of the spots in the neighbourhood of Dover are de- 
seribed as being infested with them in some seasons. 
The average size in most parts is 20 inches or there- 
abouts, an adder of 2 feet being considered a very 
large one,—a striking contrast to Herefordshire, for 
instance, where that figure is the average for male 
adders. There are a good many localities in this 
division where the adder outnumbers the ring snake, 
especially some places in Surrey, another example of 
