The Humming Bird. 55 



THE ENGLISH GRASS SNAKE. 



Snakes have always had a peculiar fascination for me. 

 When at school I generally used to carry one or two in my 

 jacket pocket, from which they would often escape, causing the 

 greatest surprise and consternation among my friends. I re- 

 memberonefellow,who although very tame, was anadeptatseiz- 

 ing the slightest opportunity of obtaining his liberty. Hewould 

 be lost for weeks, and then turn up in a neighbouring house, 

 perhaps five or six doors away. The whole street used to look 

 for his more or less welcome visits, and when he did arrive, 

 would send for me to take him away. 



I have found the grass snake (Tropidonotus natrix) , to 

 be rather common in the country lying to the north of London, 

 and have even caught one within the four mile radius from 

 CharingCross. That, however, was elevenyearsago. Theequip- 

 ment of a snake hunter is very simple, consisting of a linen 

 bag to contain his captures, or it may be as well to take two, 

 so as to be able to separate very young snakes from the others. 

 The only other article required is a stick, forked at the end 

 like a Y; it should be about the length of an ordinary 

 walking stick. 



On meeting a snake, you thrust at it with the forked end 

 of the stick, in such a way that a prong enters the ground on 

 each side of its body, pinning the reptile to the earth, when 

 one can examine it in safety in order to see whether it is a viper 

 or not. Of course, care must be taken not to use too much 

 force, or the snake will be injured, and to further lessen the 

 danger of this it is a good plan to attach a strip of india- 

 rubber to the ends of the prongs ; this will deaden the force 

 of the blow. 



For the benefit of the novice I will mention a few of the 

 most important characteristics which distinguish the innocuous 

 grass snake from the poisonous viper. By far the most 

 striking difference, one which can be seen at a glance, is the 

 broad yellow mark or collar behind the head of the former, 

 which is absent in the viper. This collar is very deep in 

 colour in young specimens, becoming paler with age, until it 

 is almost white in very old snakes. There is a second collar, 

 which is black, behind the yellow one. This mark is quite 

 sufficient of itself to distinguish the two species, and can easily 

 be seen when the snake is pinned to the earth by the forked 

 stick. 



The viper has a broad zigzag stripe down the back, while 



