Montgomery.

Writing to me from Llanidloes, Dr Thomas Morris says: "This town is the highest in Wales, and is therefore very cold. It is situated about ten miles from the foot of Plinlimin Mountain. I have resided here for fifteen years and am always riding about the country, but during all this time I have never seen either a ring snake or an adder, nor have I heard of others seeing any. I conclude, therefore, that there are very few, if any, serpents in this immediate neighbourhood." This is of interest, as a little farther north, at Carno, in this county, Mr. H. E. Forrest tells me that a ring snake measuring 3 feet 2 inches was killed in 1900.-Author.

Merionethshire.

In this county the ring snake is the most common, averaging from 30 to 36 inches in length. The adder averages from 12 to 13 inches."-D. Arthur Hughes, M.R.C.S., Barmouth, North Wales.

The common ring snake is the only species I have seen in this part of the county (Corwen). This is common between Corwen and Bala, its length being usually about 2 feet. I have also seen this species at Llangollen, in Denbighshire. I am told that the adder occurs at Barmouth, but personally I have never seen a specimen in Wales."-Thos. Ruddy, The Gardens, Pale, Corwen.

Carnarvon and Anglesey.

"I have seen adders in both these counties a good many times, and though I once saw a grass snake (Tropidonotus natrix) at Barmouth, I do not think this species is common in North Wales. I have never heard of the smooth snake in Wales at all." -Chas. Oldham, Knutsford.

Denbigh.

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'Both adders and ring snakes are fairly common here, the latter predominating. I should estimate the average length of the adder at 2 feet, that of the ring snake 4 feet."-W. B. Russell, M.B., Colwyn Bay, Denbigh.

'Both adders and ring snakes occur here, and both species grow to considerable size. A ring snake in my garden I estimated at about 5 feet. I have heard of one 72 inches, which was killed in a cluster of ring snakes-17 altogether-on a warm day in March."— W. B. Halhed, Brynderwen, nr. Llanrwst.

Denbigh and Flint.

"On the border of these two counties, between Mold and Ruthin, where I have resided for forty years, the adder is fairly numerous. Our geological formation is Upper Silurian mountain limestone and outcrops of coal-measures. The adder is chiefly found on the

limestone. Some years ago I captured one in a lady's sunshade, coaxed it into a box, and sent it up to the Zoo in London, where it lived about three years. They average from 18 inches to a much greater length. The common ring snake is here almost unknown. Where I used to shoot, south of Abergele, the party used to kill three or four adders per day frequently."-B. G. Davies-Cooke.

Flintshire.

In this county, on the mosses bordering upon Shropshire, the adder is exceedingly numerous, and, I am told, grows to a large size. Personally I have never seen any over 2 feet there. The ring snake occurs in the same district in fair numbers and grows large."-H. E. Forrest, Shrewsbury.

Anglesey (district round Aberffraw).

Mr E. Gosling states, in some notes of his in my possession, that he has seen a few specimens of the ring snake in this locality, and that the adder is pretty common. The keeper at Maelog Lake Hotel was bitten by an adder as he was putting his hand into a hole in a stone wall: he nearly lost his life in consequence, and was unable to do anything for nearly a year."-H. E. Forrest, Shrewsbury.

Wales (various districts).

"The adder is particularly abundant along the sandhills north of Barmouth, but out west the ring snake is comparatively rare. On the 'mosses' in the southern portion of Flintshire the adder is very numerous, and I saw many there this last summer (1900). One which I measured was 21 inches in length."-H. E. Forrest, Shrewsbury.

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In this county both the adder and the ring snake are found, but in different kinds of places. The ring snake is the more common on the damp heaths and peaty ground, while the adder frequents the high dry heaths and woodlands. I have measured very few adders, but the ring snake averages from 2 feet 6 inches to 3 feet 3 inches. My grandfather, Edward Shaw Peacock, of Bottesford Moors, who died in 1861, was an accurate man, and a good naturalist for his day. He left some MS. notes, from which the following extracts are taken. The words in brackets are mine.

"When Thos. L[ockwood] first began to warp Nathanland [a well-known stretch of the common,