Transcriber's Notes: When italics were used in the original book, the corresponding text has been surrounded by _underscores_. The oe ligature has been replaced by the letters oe. Greek letters have been replaced by their names and surrounded by square brackets (i.e. [alpha]). The male and female symbols have been replaced by [M] and [F] respectively. Upside-down V and Y have been represented as [V] and [Y] respectively. Ditto marks have been replaced by the text they represent. Some presumed printer's errors have been corrected. In particular, punctuation has been normalized and entries in the Index were altered to match the main text. THE SNAKES OF EUROPE ------------------------------------------------------------------------ UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME THE LIFE OF CRUSTACEA BRITISH FRESHWATER FISHES THE OX AND ITS KINDRED THE LIFE OF THE MOLLUSCA ------------------------------------------------------------------------ THE SNAKES OF EUROPE BY G. A. BOULENGER LL.D., D.SC., PH.D., F.R.S., F.Z.S. WITH FOURTEEN PLATES AND FORTY-TWO FIGURES IN THE TEXT METHUEN & CO. LTD. 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. LONDON ------------------------------------------------------------------------ _First Published in 1913_ ------------------------------------------------------------------------ PREFACE There is no work in the English language dealing with the Reptiles of Europe. I have therefore endeavoured to supply this desideratum, so far as the Snakes are concerned, by drawing up in a concise form an account of what is known of their characters, their distribution, and their life-histories. Professor Sordelli, of Milan, having kindly acceded to my request to reproduce some of the beautiful figures drawn by him for the work published in collaboration with the late Professor Jan under the title of "Iconographie Générale des Ophidiens," I have been able to supplement my descriptions with illustrations which leave nothing to be desired from the point of view of accuracy. A few drawings have been made specially for this book by Mr. J. Green. I have further to acknowledge the permission given by the Trustees of the British Museum, the India Office, and the Zoological Society, to reproduce a few figures from previous publications of which I am the author. In order to render this little book more useful, the account of the Snakes of Europe has been preceded by an Introduction summarizing what is known of Snakes generally.