Page:British Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fresh-water Fishes.djvu/28

BRITISH REPTILES occurrence in Britain of a second distinct species of Viper, known as the Small Red Viper, which might be called Vipera rubra. It is said to have occurred in my own native Hertfordshire, as well as Berkshire, Devon, Dorset, Lincolnshire, Oxfordshire, Somerset, Sussex, and Scotland. Indeed it has now been recorded from fifteen English counties. In both colour and size it is quite distinctive, and it seems high time that this Snake was promoted to specific rank. It is much less timid than V. berus, hisses more vigorously, and shows fight to a much greater extent. An average length may perhaps be given as 12 inches (almost one half less than the average length of an adult Adder), and the coppery, ferruginous, or red colour, with darker markings of the same, at once distinguish it. The one natural enemy of the Adder in Britain seems to be our wily old friend the Hedgehog who, it appears, maddens the Snake to such an extent that the latter eventually strikes at the Hedgehog, and breaks its own neck as a result of the force of the impact against the profuse armour of spines. The popular name of Adder comes from the Anglo-Saxon "a neddre," '"an eddre," "an adder."

Grass Snake.—Trepidonotus natrix (Fig. 2). Belongs to the Family Colubridæ, and is also known as the Green, Hedge, Ringed, and Water Snake. The specific name natrix indicates that this Snake is fond of inhabiting places near water. It is one of our commonest reptiles, and yet in districts where one would expect to locate it, it is strangely absent. Whether this is due to the 12