72 
ILLUSTRATIONS OF 
the common tern^ Sterna hirundo,^ the black tern^ 
S. nigra,^ and the small tern^ aS'. minuta? 
Worcestershire produces so few reptiles, that it is 
unnecessary to say much concerning them. We have 
the nimble lizard, Lacerta agills,'^ the water eft, Triton 
aquaticm, the brown eft, T. vulgaris, the frog, Rana 
temporaria, and the common toad, Bufo vulgaris. In 
serpents, the black snake, Natrix torquata, is pretty 
common, the blind-worm, Anguis fragilis, rather less 
so, but both, from a general ignorance of their 
innoxious qualities, excite almost equal alarm with 
the really venomous viper. The common viper, 
Vipera communis, is rather too frequent in waste 
stony places, about the Trench Woods, and Malvern, 
Bredon, and Abberley Hills, but we seldom hear 
of persons being bitten. The red viper, supposed to 
be the Coluber chersea of Linnaeus, has been met 
with occasionally at Cracombe, and Mr. Hugh 
Strickland, of Cracombe House, has accurately 
described it in a communication inserted in Loudon's 
though Bewick states the bird to be scarce. One was found by the servant of Mr. 
Jabez AUies, lying nearly dead in a field close to Catherine Villa, after a hurricane 
on Good Friday, 1834, The bird was fed for a few days, but eventually died, and 
is now preserved for our Museum. 
* Two fine Worcestershire specimens are in our Museum. 
^ Seen a few summers ago by John Walcot, Esq. flying over the Severn. 
^ Observed in the Avon, according to Mrs. Perrott. 
■* Pennant mentions a remarkable lizard, probably the green lizard, Lacerta 
viridiSf " which was killed near Worcot, in the parish of Swinford, Worcestershire, 
in 1741, which was 2 feet 6 inches long, and 4 inches in girth. The fore legs were 
placed 8 inches from the head ; the hind legs 5 inches beyond these ; the legs 2 
inches long ; the feet divided into 4 toes, each furnished with a sharp claw. Another 
