Page:VCH Worcestershire 1.djvu/176

 A HISTORY OF WORCESTERSHIRE misinformed as to the size of the creature ; but there is one part of it which needs a passing notice, namely, the very small girth in relation to the length. The Rev. Mr. Shephard, who first recorded the species as British in the Transactions of the Linnean Society for i8o2, described it as being up- wards of a foot long. Professor Bell also, in his History of British Reptiles, mentions hav- ing seen lizards of this species approaching that length, but the Rev. Leonard Jenyns, whose accuracy is unquestionable, gives in his Manual of British Vertebrate Animals, 7 inches as the total length. The sand lizard is met with in Worcester- shire : Pennant gives Tenbury, as well as the places above mentioned, as a locality, and in parts of Wyre Forest and near Kidderminster it is still to be found. The present writer re- ceived one, which was taken on the Worcester- shire side of the park at Ragley, the seat of the Marquis of Hertford, which measured a little over 8 inches in length, and another of smaller size, which was captured when remov- ing some rubbish at the entrance to the ex- cavations for gypsum at Spurnal near Alcester. 3. Slow-worm or Blind-worm. Anguis fra- gilis, Linn. This reptile, according to Hastings, is rather less common than the snake, but whatever it was in 1834, it is certainly rarer now. It may occasionally be seen on elevated stony places, but is almost unknown in the valleys. It is still found in some numbers in parts of Wyre Forest and in Habberley Valley. OPHIDIA 4. Common or Ringed Snake. Tropidonotus natrix, Linn. {Natrix torquata, Ray.) Too numerous and too generally distributed to require particular notice. In spite of per- secution it holds its own. It is very common in the damp osier-beds and coppices in the Teme valley. 5. Common Viper or Adder. Vipera berus, Linn. A common reptile in all suitable localities, such as waste sandy and stony places. In parts of Wyre Forest it is very plentiful. Hastings mentions the Trench Woods, the neighbour- hood of Malvern, and the Breedon and Ab- berley hills as localities where it is found, and there are many other places in the county which it frequents. At Cracomb near Fladbury Mr. H. E. Strickland dis- covered the variety known as the red viper, of which he contributed an account to Low- don's Magazine of Natural History which appears at page 399 of vol. vi. BATRACHIANS ECAUDATA Common Frog. Rana temporaria, Linn. Common in every meadow, pool and ditch, as well as on the margins of the streams. 2. Common Toad. Bufo vulgaris, Laur. Common, but not so abundant as the frog. The toad is easily tamed with gentle treat- ment, and will follow the hand to take flies from the fingers. Gardeners like to introduce the toad into the cucumber and melon frame, where it consumes a great quantity of insects and sometimes attains to a great size. It is far more plentiful in some years than in others. 3. Natterjack Toad. Bufo calamita (Laur.). Although this toad is easily distinguished from B. vulgaris by the yellow line on the back, yet its appearance is very seldom re- ported, partly because it usually occurs in places where toads are not looked for, e.g. sandy commons and wastes, and partly because to most persons a toad is a toad and nothing more. A specimen was taken in August, i860, on Dodderhill Common,' and doubtless other specimens would be found if looked for 1 Tram. Worcestershire Naturalises' Club, i. p. 60. in similar and suitable localities. This toad seems to live in colonies, and these colonies migrate, disappearing from a locality for a time, and then after an interval of longer or shorter duration appearing again. CAUDATA Newt. Molge 4. Great Crested Laur. Common in stagnant waters, pools, ditches and other places. 5. Common Newt. Molge vulgaris, Linn. Like the last species it is found in stagnant water, but more frequently out of it, in damp cellars or other underground places. It is also sometimes found in winter in holes in banks of earth or rubbish. 6. Palmated Newt. Molge palmata, Schn. Although this is the most widely distributed of all the newts, yet its recorded occurrences in Worcestershire are few, probably because it has been mistaken for M. vulgaris, in whose company it is often found. It can be distinguished by the absence of colour on the throat, which is of a pale flesh tint. 138