244 BRITISH SERPENTS. 
more common all over the province, the adder appar- 
ently being rarer than it used to be. The ring snake 
seems to have a slightly larger average length here 
than farther south, specimens of 55 to 4 feet being 
frequently found. 
V. Severn Province. 
Vipera berus—Here we have a division which in- 
cludes some of the snakiest places in the country for 
both adders and ring snakes; but, as elsewhere, the 
distribution is very local. Herefordshire is referred to 
in detail elsewhere, and no more need be said here 
than to recall the average length of adders on the 
southern border of the county, where they are prob- 
ably larger, as a rule, than anywhere else in England, 
the average size being the maximum of Boulenger’s 
Eneclish averages—25 inches. Very large adders are 
fo} fo) fo} 
found in some Monmouthshire districts, while in other 
parts a much smaller average obtains. In this prov- 
ince the adder is more common than the ring snake 
all alone the western border of the province, from 
West Hereford to the Forest of Dean. 
Tropidonotus natriv.—n all the remaining counties 
and districts of the province the ring snake predomin- 
ates, and in some places is very abundant. Gloucester- 
shire, perhaps, has it in more abundance than the rest, 
and here it is very common. In the Churnett Valley, 
Stalfordshire, too, it is plentiful, and is of a fairly 
uniform average length everywhere in the province. 
