CHANNEL PROVINCE. 263 
“T have observed that adders when caught usually 
disgorge their last meal. I have never seen them 
attempt to swallow their young. 
“Ting snakes choose fresh cow-manure if available 
to lay their eggs in, and they visit the eggs in the 
evening, The eggs are laid in May or June, but I 
caught five ring snakes in a manure-heap in July this 
last summer (1900). When taken away, strange to 
say all the eges went bad, and not one of them came 
out ”—A. Old, 3 Byne Road, Sydenham, $.E. 
CrentraL Dorser.— In this part of the county—a 
place untouched at present by the newest forms of 
civilisation, and nine miles from the nearest railway 
station—both ring snakes and adders are plentiful, 
and inay be seen in numbers in the spring. In my 
lumediate neighbourhood there are large coverts, and 
frequently, when shooting these for the last time at 
the end of the winter, adders are killed in numbers. 
On one occasion, two or three years ago, seven adders 
were slain by the beaters in one morning at Kings- 
erove Wood in the parish of Piddletrenthide. I was 
present at the time, and besides these seven several 
nore were seen. Even more common is the ring 
snake, and I know of one lane which is infested with 
them in the spring-time. When riding down this lane 
this year my horse kept on shying at the reptiles, 
which were creeping away in all directions. On 
another occasion, when shooting in the month of 
