Page:VCH Buckinghamshire 1.djvu/169



There are few if any published records of the occurrence of even the commonest species of reptiles and batrachians in Buckinghamshire, but enquiries made of observers in different districts show that of our six species of native reptiles five are to be found within the confines of the county. The absentee is the smooth snake (Coronella lævis), whose claim to be considered a British species is now generally admitted, but, although common on the continent, it is of rather rare occurrence in this country. There is, I think, no reason why it should not be found in the county, for I am informed by Mr. M. D. Hill, B.A., F.Z.S., President of the Windsor and Eton Scientific Society, that both the smooth snake and the sand lizard have been reported from the Ascot district of the adjoining county of Berks. Of the tailless batrachians admitted to the British list three are said to occur, the fourth, which is the edible frog (Rana esculenta), being an introduced species now naturalized in the Fens and other localities in the eastern counties. The three British caudate batrachians have been observed.

It is an unfortunate fact that our reptiles are gradually disappear- ing. Snakes are usually killed at sight, probably through inability on the part of most people to distinguish our one venomous species, the adder or viper, from its harmless relatives. Old inhabitants inform me that half a century ago the common ringed snake and the slow-worm were abundant in many parts of the county where they are now infre- quently seen or have altogether disappeared. The adder, too, is far less often met with than in days gone by, when these creatures were a real danger in the places which they frequented. Mr. T. D. Phillips of Aspley Heath informs me that in the Woburn Sands and adjoining dis- tricts, lying on the borders of Bedfordshire and Buckinghamshire, very few reptiles are now found. He recollects when a boy that a different state of things prevailed, and that he and his companions used to organize snake-hunting excursions, seldom returning home without having accounted for four or five of one species or another. Once in early March, when out rabbiting with his father and others, they found such a number of adders in a disused sand-pit that it became necessary to call off the dogs and go to another part of the wood. The same observer con- tributes an interesting personal experience on the vexed question of the female adder swallowing her young for purposes of safety. He states that on the occasion just referred to he actually witnessed this phenomenon,