THE YOUNG 



four and put them into a good-sized box.with 

 some earth and rockwork, beneath which 

 they soon formed regular hiding-places. 

 They are not all of the same colour, some 

 being of a rich sienna brown with darker 

 markings, and others of a dull leaden hue : 

 whether this denotes distinction of sex. or 

 is due to old age, I am not prepared to say ; 

 but all the very old ones I have seen were 

 of the dull hue, and I never saw any young 

 ones that were not bright brown. I came 

 across one at six a.m. once in a ramble up a 

 lane. I was hunting for molluscs, and heard 

 my dog barking as if she had made some 

 discovery, such I found was the case. She 

 had surprised a slowworm as it was retreat- 

 ing, and without endeavouring to touch it 

 was performing a circular dance round the 

 hole it was entering. I seized it before it 

 made good its escape, and carried it home 

 to some others. 



Their general food consists of the small 

 white and grey slugs so common and so 

 mischievous in gardens ; and their mode 

 Df eating is very peculiar. If hungry, on 

 seeing a slug crawling along, the slowworm 

 approaches it, eyeing it intently, and then 

 quietly seizes it across the middle — there is 

 no darting, nothing sudden — it merely opens 

 its mouth and leisurely lays hold of its 

 prey. Of course, from the nature of the 

 food, we see that there is not the slightest 

 necessity for rapid movements, as there is 

 with a near relation, the sand lizard, which 

 has to catch flies. So with the swallowing ; 

 it is done very gradually, and often takes a 

 long time, a considerable quantity of fluid 

 covering the mouth meanwhile. If the slug 

 has been crawling over the earth and 

 has anything adhering to it, the slow- 

 worm will take it to a stone, and rub its 

 prey against it till all is detached. This 

 shows the possession of a considerable 

 amount of reasoning power, as it was only 

 done when necessary. I could not always 

 provide slugs for it, and occasionally it 



NATURALIST. 15 



would take earthworms, but it did not like 



them so well. 



Like other lizards, it is under the neces- 

 sity now and then of changing its skin, 

 which does not come ofif entire, but in 

 several detached portions, which peel off, 

 the creature assisting the process by twining 

 its body in and out among rough substances. 

 One of mine changed May ist, and again 

 July 14th. The common name of blindworm 

 is so utterly inappropriate that I cannot 

 conceive how it arose, though many country 

 people now will tell you that it cannot see 

 at all. But it is very evident that it dis- 

 covers its food more by sight, than by any 

 other sense; and its eyes are peculiarly 

 pretty, and without the baleful aspect of 

 those of such creatures as the viper. My 

 slowworms buried themselves in the garden 

 during the winter, and one reappeared 

 March 28th, very sluggish and sleepy, and 

 ate nothing for several days. The property 

 of throwing ofi" the tail, and in time repro- 

 ducing it, must be well known to my readers. 



On the warren here they are exceedingly 

 plentiful under the large stones. Their 

 usual length is about thirteen to fourteen 

 inches, but I have one now in my possession 

 nineteen inches and a half in length, of 

 which the tail measures eleven inches. This 

 must be considered a monster. 



I began with an anecdote, and I will end 

 with one. A friend of mine was hunting for 

 some slowworms underneath some stones, 

 and wanted very much to move one immense 

 rock, having an intuitive knowledge of the 

 presence there of a host of victims. But it 

 was beyond his strength, and he called in 

 the assistance of two soldiers who happened 

 to be passing by. When the stone had been 

 overturned there lay several slowworms, 

 among which my friend immediately darted, 

 seizing two or three in each hand. The 

 sight was too much for the soldiers, who 

 precipitately fled, waiting for neither thanks 

 nor largess. 



