A HISTORY OF STAFFORDSHIRE 2. Blind-worm or Slow-worm. Anguls fra- gilis, Linn. Not uncommon in similar situations to those affected by the common lizard. The blind-worm varies greatly in colour according to age. The young, for some time after birth, are nearly white above and black below. Half-grown individuals are sometimes copper coloured, whilst mature specimens, especially females, become dark grey and so thick as to be mistaken for vipers at a casual glance by unsophisticated persons. Although usually the most gentle of reptiles and possessing only the startling habit of suddenly breaking off the tail when seized, such aged individuals will occasionally, though rarely, strike at the hand in a very snake-like manner. OPHIDIA 3. Common Ringed or Grass Snake. Tropi- donotus natrix, Linn. Ray Natrix torquata. Generally distributed, but becoming more rare every year, although it holds its own against the advance of cultivation far better than does the viper or even the blind-worm. 4. Viper or Adder. Vipera berus, Linn. Occurs at Chartley Park, Cannock Chase and other places in the county, but is de- creasing in numbers as its haunts become drained and the land cultivated. It was formerly abundant at Chartley, where Sir Oswald Mosley records that in a single day's shooting he has ' disturbed several of them ; and their venomous bite has sometimes proved fatal to valuable pointers, which stand at them as if they had the scent of game ' (Natural History of Tutbury, p. 60). Although the viper varies a great deal in- dividually both in ground colour and markings, this is largely a matter of sex ; bright, light- coloured specimens with a black, well defined zig-zag dorsal line being males, whilst the shorter, thinner-tailed females are brown or reddish with the markings more indistinct. BATRACHIANS ECAUDATA 1. Common Frog. Rana temporaria, Linn. Common and generally distributed. 2. Common Toad. Bufo vulgaris, Laur. Fairly abundant. CAUDATA 3. Great Crested or Warty Newt. Molge crlitata, Laur. Common in ponds and ditches. 4. Smooth Newt. Molge vulgaris, Linn. Abundant in similar situations to the last. This species possesses the power of restoring its damaged members, and is sometimes met with having additional toes on either the fore or the hind feet. Mr. James Yates, M.R.C.S., of Cambridge, for many years resident in Staf- fordshire, writes me under date 4 February, 1901, that he has frequently seen newts in cellars from which they could not set out in search of ponds, and in such places he has ' seen their eggs connected together like a string of pearls.' This is also the case, according to my own experience, when the ova are deposited in water containing no aquatic plants. Ordinarily, as is well known, the female newt carefully encloses each egg in the coil of a leaf which forms a hollow cylinder around it, and whilst it protects the egg allows free access of water to the develop- ing embryo. 5. Palmated Newt. Molge pa/mata, Sch. Mr. J. R. B. Masefield, M.A., informs me that he has a note of the occurrence of this interesting species of newt in the south of the county, but in Staffordshire it would seem to be local, as I have been unable to meet with it in mid-Staffordshire, and Mr. Masefield himself has failed to obtain it in the Cheadle district. The palmated newt, especially when im- mature, is doubtless frequently confused with the smooth newt, from which however it can always be distinguished by its unspotted throat, and the male in the breeding season by his web- bed feet and the curious mucro or thread at the end of his tail. 138
