Page:British Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fresh-water Fishes.djvu/17

 BRITISH REPTILES, AMPHIBIANS, AND FRESH-WATER FISHES I. CLASS REPTILIA, OR SNAKES AND LIZARDS

Introduction.—Whilst in certain parts of Great Britain both Snakes and Lizards are of frequent occurrence, there are many districts where neither are found, and although on odd occasions introduced Snakes have been unexpectedly discovered in Ireland, the Emerald Isle does not include even one species of Ophidia in its native fauna. Moreover, our own island-fauna as a whole contains very few species of Snakes, or Lizards, and if at the outset it is stated that only three species in each of the two Orders of Ophidia (Snakes), and Lacerttlia (Lizards), are entitled to inclusion, the truth will at once be told. Of a fourth kind of Snake (the Small Red Viper: Vipera rubra) something will be said at a later stage, and as regards Lizards I have myself caught, or had in my possession, specimens from foreign climes  1