Page:British Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fresh-water Fishes.djvu/18

BRITISH REPTILES which had without doubt made good their escape from captivity. One very large specimen of a handsome Green Lizard was caught in my own garden, but it does not come within the province of this book to include such events in its survey.

Before dealing with the few species of Serpents indigenous to our own Country, it will be as well to give some general particulars, and instances of folk-lore, old-time beliefs, and superstitions, concerning them. It is probable that Snakes, or Serpents as they are so often designated, are the most unpopular of all living creatures, and the reasons for this, rightly considered, are difficult to ascertain. Included in the Class Reptilia, there are to be found, in addition to the Snakes and Lizards, the Tortoises and Turtles (Order Chelonia) and the Alligators and Crocodiles (Order Crocodilia) but these latter reptiles do not concern us here as they are, of course, not found in a wild condition within the borders of our own land. Other countries, such as North America, where no less than over 350 different species of reptiles occur, are more fortunate, or unfortunate, according to the point of view adopted, but it is probable that few people will lament the fact that our own reptilian fauna is so poorly represented. Whilst, too, there are a great number of Serpents inhabiting the great Continent of Australia, and among them at least seventy venomous kinds, we have in our own island only one species which is harmful. This is the Adder, or Viper (Vipera herus). Of the three species of Snakes we do possess, one, the Smooth Snake 2