A colour variety, of which I have examined a single specimen from near Vienna, is pale brown above, with four black lines along the anterior part of the body, and two small, yellowish, dark-edged spots close together on the back of the head, separated by the suture between the parietal shields.
Werner has described another variety, also from near Vienna, which resembles Coluber leopardinus, having two series of large, brown, dark-edged spots along the back, some of the spots alternating, others uniting across the back. Apparently very similar to the last variety, and also said to be suggestive of Coluber leopardinus, is the var. scalaris, Sternfeld, from Lüneburg in Hanover, reddish-brown above, with two rows of bright red, black-edged spots, partly confluent and connected across the spine by transverse bars producing a ladder-like pattern. Specimens of a uniform greyish-brown, without any markings, are very rare. The var. veithi, Schreiber, established on a single specimen from Carinthia, represents a case of melanism: bluish-black, with the normal markings of an intense black. Two specimens of a “black variety” are said to have been found in this country, near Poole.
Size.—Seldom exceeds a length of 2 feet, and in many districts, in England for instance, does not appear to often reach that size. The largest specimen, from Austria, examined by me, measures 25 inches; one from Hampshire measures 24 inches.
Distribution.—The range of the Smooth Snake extends over nearly the whole of Europe, as far north as 63° in Norway; it becomes rare and more local in the south, being absent from part of Spain and the islands of the Mediterranean, with the exception of Sardinia. It is common in the hilly parts of Belgium, Northern and Central France, Germany, and Austria. In Sweden it appears to be restricted to the oak region. In Great Britain it has been found in four counties in the South of England: Surrey, Hampshire, Dorsetshire, and Berkshire, in some parts of which it is less uncommon than usually supposed. Its reported occurrence in Dumfriesshire is the result of an error; the snake figured as Coluber dumfriesiensis represents an American species. In a very interesting article written for Science Gossip in 1888, Mr. A. L. Beldy says that about 1868, when Bournemouth was but a very small village, surrounded by large expanses of moorland, Coronella austriaca was extraordinarily abundant, and during a hot summer examples were to be seen literally in scores and great numbers were killed. Since then, however, their numbers have gradually decreased. About 1880 the snake was occasionally found near Wellington College, Berks, and as many as five were captured by one person in the course of one year; it is believed to be now extinct in that neighbourhood. From South-Eastern Europe the range of this species extends to South-Western Asia. The ascertained altitudinal range is 4,000 feet in the Alps, 6,000 feet in Bosnia, and 6,500 feet in the Caucasus.
Habits.—The Smooth Snake lives on heathland, stony wastes, and wooded hills, showing a preference for dry localities. Although not infrequent on the Dorsetshire and Hampshire heaths, where it was first discovered in 1853, it was not recorded as a British reptile until 1859; it was discovered much later on the sandy heaths between Haslemere and Farnham, where it occurs in small numbers, and in Berkshire. These localities are likewise inhabited by the rarer British lizard, the Sand Lizard. Notwithstanding its gentle, timid appearance, this snake when fresh caught is usually very ready to bite; either it snaps angrily, or, without hissing or other warning, it suddenly fastens its jaws into the finger of its captor, even if it be gently handled. The food consists mostly of lizards, occasionally of slow-worms or small snakes, more rarely of voles or mice, even shrews, which are seized, constrictor-like, and crushed by the coils of the body. O. von Tomasini has observed one swallowing a Coluber longissimus as large as itself.
In Central Europe this snake becomes active towards the end of March or beginning of April, and retires in September or October. It does well in captivity, and becomes very tame. It is one of the most intelligent of snakes, second to none in educability; it can be trained to feed in the hand of its master.
Reproduction.—The Smooth Snake pairs in early spring, and is ovoviviparous. The young, two to fifteen in number, are born late in August or in September, enveloped by a thin membrane which they tear immediately; they measure 5 to 6 inches. Embryos 31⁄2 or 4 inches long have the scaling and the characteristic markings fully developed, but the scales and shields much abbreviated, the former broader than long. A dicephalous young is preserved in the Bosnian Museum at Sarajev, and another was caught near Karlsruhe, in Germany, in 1881, and kept alive for some time. According to Rollinat, a second autumnal pairing sometimes takes place in France.
15. Coronella girondica, Daudin
(Coluber riccioli, Metaxa)
The Southern Smooth Snake
Distinguished from the preceding by a somewhat more slender form, a more obtuse, scarcely prominent snout, a much lower rostral shield, which is considerably broader than deep and just visible from above, not penetrating between the internasals, constantly eight upper labials, fourth and fifth entering the eye, and the scales in twenty-one (rarely nineteen or twenty-three) rows. Ventrals 170 to 200; anal divided; subcaudals 49 to 72.