96
THE ONLY POISONOUS BRITISH SNAKE
The Adder
Photograph by Stanley Crook
a
v>
i i
HOW THE REPTILES LIVE
the open, there is no chance of getting near Adders pair early in the year, and the
unless the route is so clear that you can couples usually keep together for months ;
creep up without crackling a dry twig if one adder is seen, most probably another,
or rustling a leaf. I have no natural its mate, is close to hand. The young, twelve
horror of snakes, and except when I wished to twenty in number, are produced late
to capture one alive, have always allowed in summer, and are very lively little creatures,
them to escape, as they are beautiful living usually darker in colour than the adults,
creatures and entirely harmless except when Apparently they often stay for a time
disturbed or attacked. But those
who must kill them should aim a
blow with a switch or stick behind
the head. The backbone is very
easily broken, after which, although
the body will writhe, the creature
is helpless and can be killed by a
tap actually on the head. Close
examination of a dead adder leaves
no doubt as to what it is. Open
the mouth, and the two very long
slightly curved poison fangs can be
seen with their points lying back-
wards against the roof; they can
be pulled forwards into the erect
position for striking, with a bent
pin. The eyes also should be
looked at ; they have no eyelids,
which distinguishes them from the
slow-worm, although like other rep-
tiles they have a transparent,
nictitating membrane ; the slit of
the pupil is vertical, not round as
in the smooth snake.
The best way to catch adders
without killing them is to have a
forked stick with the points of the
" V >! sharpened and a pair of
wooden tongs. If you can creep
up to them quietly, which I have
often done myself in early spring
when they seem inert, but very
seldom in full summer, it is not
difficult to pin down the neck
between the prongs of the stick
and then to lift them with the
tongs to put them in a well-
ventilated tin with some moss or
grass. But they do not feed readily in close to the mother, although I never had
captivity ; I have found small lizards to be the fortune to see a family party. And
the food they will take most often, although there is the oddest belief, widespread
in the wild state, as may be seen from
examination of the contents of their
stomachs, they take not only ordinary
lizards but small slow-worms, mice, nest-
lings and eggs, water voles, young rats
and even insects and ants' " eggs."
Photo : S. Crook.
In the Adder of the dark variety the flattened
head stands out boldly in relation to the smallish
neck, but the distinctive pattern is far less
obtrusive.
amongst countryfolk and amateur natura-
alists, that when an adder and her young
are disturbed, she will open her mouth,
into which they disappear for safety,
being disgorged again when the danger is
over. There is no scientific evidence for
97
THE PAGEANT OF NATURE
this, and The Field newspaper years ago
kept an offer of 5 open for anyone who
should tie a tape round the neck of
an adder that had performed this act of
maternal solicitude and bring or send the
animal to be dissected by a naturalist
to confirm the presence of a family in the
gullet. I am happy to repeat the offer on
my own account to all readers of this work.
The belief rests on two kinds of state-
ments. Many persons have claimed to
have seen the feat being performed. I
am sure that they were deceived, possibly
by the sudden withdrawal of the forked
tongue, less probably by seeing a small
slow-worm in the act of being swallowed,
more probably by the almost magically
quick disappearance of the young into the
undergrowth. The other statements are
doubtless true ; they are, that when an
adder has been cut in two by a cartwheel,
has had its head blown off by a gun or
severed by a stick, that the young have
been seen escaping from the wound.
But it does not follow that they had been
swallowed.
Most reptiles lay large eggs within
which the young are already active and
lively before hatching. Adders also have
large eggs, but these are kept safe within
the body of the mother and hatch there.
If a female adder with ripe eggs be opened
the young may be seen wriggling inside
the transparent parchment-like shells lying
in the two long egg tubes which extend
far forwards in the body. Sometimes
young snakes ready to be born can be
found loose inside the body. Nothing
is more probable than that when a snake
ready to produce her young has been cut
across, the young have then escaped from
the wounded body. The real origin of
the swallowing story is this viviparous
habit of the adder.
The young of the Grass Snake are hatched from eggs laid on the ground ; the young
of the Adder, on the contrary, are hatched from the eggs inside the parent's body
and are born "alive.."
9 8
Trees and Their Life Story
3.-THE AWAKENING OF THE LEAF
BUDS
IT is only when
the first hint of
green ripples
along the bare
branches that
" spring's sweet call "
is clearly heard. The
catkins, swaying in
February and March,
are too much bound
up with wintry skies
and nipping winds
to bring conviction
of awakening Nature,
but the pale, tender
green of bursting
buds has in it a note
of joyousness that
never fails to be con-
vincing. All winter
the dark buds have
been resting, yet at
the same time, in
some mysterious
fashion, preparing for
the future ; but now,
urged to action by
the sunshine, they
begin, each in its
own individual way,
and each, too, in its
own time, to give
birth to the baby
leaves they have so
jealously guarded
during their rest.
The elms burst
into green life in
very early spring, and
after their flush of
reddish flower
become covered with
By G. CLARKE NUTTALL, B.Sc.
With photographs by the Author
Leaf buds of the Wyeh Elm bursting
a beautiful colour-study in palest green,
rose pink and chaffy fawn.
99
the palest of green
rosettes. Some folks
say then, " Here
come the leaves."
But they are previous,
for these rosettes are
the tiny fruits that
are set each in the
centre of a pale green
wing. Soon the
ground beneath the
trees is spread with
them, as with a
carpet, until finally
they dry and are
hustled away to a
desti nation known
only to the March
winds.. For a short
space the trees stand
out again, bare and
brown but not for
Icng. Other buds
have been swelling
and lengthening until
they burst with a
charm of colour.
This is especially
apparent in the wych
elm. There are
chaffy fawn scales
without and shell-
pink ones within, and
these spread apart
and allow the ex-
quisite green pleat-
ings to issue and
droop, as the photo-
graph shows. The
pleatings open into
separate leaves
(without stalks in the
THE PAGEANT OF NATURE
wych elm, with stalks in the common elm),
leaves that then place themselves in
whatever position will best afford them
their meed of the sun's rays. An old
Somewhat akin are the buds of the beech,
though these are larger and more delicately
pointed. They shine like burnished copper
in the pale spring sunshine, and as the en-
folding brown scales give under
pressure from within, the fragile
young leaves, folded in dainty
fan-like pleats, pour out. They
are protected from undue heat
and moisture by an armour of
silver hairs, and at this stage the
bursting buds copper, silver and
emerald are some of the fairest
jewels of the spring.
Contrast the bud of the beech
with that of the oak. In the oak
we have the suggestion of
immense strength and endurance
rather than of grace, and the
stiff, knobly buds carry out the
same idea of ruggedness. The
embryo leaves are not neatly
folded within the leathery outer
scales, they are just crumpled
up, and as they emerge they
bear witness, in their irregular
outline, to the untidy conditions
under which they are formed.
The oak, " monarch of the trees,"
This beautiful
twig of the Beech
is the entire con-
tents of a winter
bud (left). The
leaves are a
brilliant semi-
transparent
green, and they
are edged with
silver hairs,
which they
presently lose.
saying makes the
size of the
growing leaf the
countryman's guide
barley
The Oak bud like the tree-
leaves are crumpled within it,
-is rugged and uncompromising. The
and emerge in a rather untidy fashion.
When the elmen leaf is as big as a mouse's ear,
Then to sow barley never fear.
When the elmen leaf is as big as an ox's eye,
Then say I, 'Hie, boys, hie.' '''
for the sowing of secure in its magnificence and power, seems
to scorn the niceties of smooth line and
flowing curves.
How different from the elm, beech and
oak are the important-looking buds of the
horse chestnut, the handsomest and biggest
100
TREES AND THEIR LIFE STORY
buds carried by any of our trees. In
early spring they lose their dull surface
and shine brilliantly, as their coat of
varnish, which has served as a water-
proof through the winter, begins to
melt under the increasing warmth
of the sun. They are wonderfully
formed, built up wrap after wrap of
protective scales, some seventeen in
all, and within these scales, to make
protection doubly sure, is a further
covering of thick hairs, while in the
innermost shrine are two pairs of
minute pleated leaves, with, if the bud
be a terminal one, an embryo spike of
The Ash starts its leaves
from a purp'ish-blaek bud
They are cut up into an
uneven number of leaflets.
flowers. When the scales
loosen and allow the leaves
to appear, each of these
latter is seen to consist of
seven leaflets, folded in half
lengthwise, and its tissue set
in tiny fan -like pleats.
Eventually, as can be best
seen in the picture, the pairs
of leaves push right out and
arrange themselves crosswise.
At first they often droop a
little, umbrella-like, but soon
they raise themselves and
f>
The Horse Chest-
nut bud is large
and important.
Note the many en-
wrapping scales.
The Sycamore bud has a deprecating air, but it flushes
with beautiful red tints, so that the branches seem
studded with coral.
IOI
THE PAGEKttT OF NATURE
stand covering the tree like a
number of green candelabra.
If the chestnut bud has a
bold, assertive look about it, the
bursting bud of the sycamore
gives quite a different im-
pression, one almost of depreca-
tion. Set in pairs, not merely
along the branches but, which is
unusual, with a pair at the
end as
well, it
The buds of the Lime are very late in bursting, and
they usually burst downwards for the sake of greater
protection,
is more
egg-shaped and less dipped in ink. No brilliant hues or
like the head of a jewelled tints greet the sunshine ; they seem
bedpost than the bud
of the horse chest-
nut. Still, it too is
an important - look-
ing bud, and before
it bursts it may have
increased to an inch
in length. At the
same time its dark
winter colouring
gives place to flush-
ings of pink and red,
so that the brown
branches are studded
as with coral.
Between the scales
push the coming
leaves like two vivid
green horns which
lengthen and release
to be in mourning for the drear winter
days that are past rather than dressed to
give a welcome to the coming spring. Even
when they open it is a dead, dullish-green
that presents itself in the many-leafleted
leaves When it is spread, however, the
leaf is pretty enough, for each is cut up
into a number of leaflets, one terminal and
the rest set in a varying number of pairs
along the mid-rib.
The twigs which carry the bursting hazel
buds look often as if a number of green
moths had settled thereon. The leaves are
roughly pleated and at first covered with
soft down, but this disappears as they
grow into somewhat coarse leaves with an
unexpected sharp point.
Among the lesser trees,
too, is the lilac, one of the
first to present its leaves
Stages in the devel-
opment of a Hazel
bud. At first the tiny
leaves are covered
with downy hairs,
but these disappear
with later growth.
their pleatings, drooping
like pinions, while still
two other pleated leaves
push between them.
Grim are the 'buds ,of
the ash. Dark all ths-
winter, hut blanker and
blacker as the spring
draws on, they sit on their
stiff brackets in pairs up
the grey branches, look-
ing as if they had been
The bud development of the Lilac is on very formal lines.
The leaves lie over each other, and are not pleated in any way.
IO2
TREES AND THEIR LIFE STORY
A /^^^fe.lr^ tannin glands from
Jk ^Sif which arises a sweetish
neath the sweetness.
The lime even out-
M ^u ^^L classes the walnut as
Jfj ^W. BBf^ a sluggard. Its leaves,
^w ^^^^Bs ^i indeed, are usually the
If *lr Br ^ ast to come anc * tne
first to go. When the
buds do at length
burst, lovely red leaf-
structures can be seen
within. They burst
downwards for the
greater protection of
the delicate leaves,
_ _i_ and often the new
The Walnut's awakening bud is curiously lop-sided. The young leav s han g j lke ro 5
leaves are powdered with golden spots translucent tannin glands. * hearts along the
branches. As they
to the spring. In full foliage they are
rather uninteresting, and in all stages of
development, from the tight little bud to
the mature twig, there is a curious form
ality. The leaves are produced in pairs,
each pair at right angles to and clasping a
younger pair, so there are no attractive
pleatings and foldings.
In contrast to the early awakening of
the lilacs we have the tardiness of the
walnut and the lime which
are the sluggards among
the trees. The walnut
whose name signifies " a
stranger" has also
strange ways, and its de-
veloping buds have a dis-
tinctly eccentric appear-
ance. The winter ones
are stumpy and covered
with a couple of dark
scales. These open widely
and a number of small
stalked bundles of differ-
ent sizes appear. Each
proves to be a leaf made
up of seven to nine folded
leaflets, and as it grows
and opens the central stem
curves back sharply, and
emerge they are folded round the main
veins which radiate from the point where
the stalk is attached.
The bud of the rhododendron has a
completely different way of behaving from
all the preceding buds. It contains a
number of tiny leaves standing erect, and
each rolled lengthwise and backwards in
twin rolls. These gradually uncoil, the
face of the leaf broadening at the same time.
a very curious lop-sided
appearance is produced.
In the case of the Rhododendron bud the leaves are rolled
on their backs lengthwise and unroll as they grow.
103
Curiosities of Insect Life
Photo: A, Harold FSastin.
Thayer's famous theory that the presence of an animal may be betrayed to its enemies
by sharpness of outline, or the shadow it casts, even though its tints accord perfectly
with the background against which it rests. The illustration is from a model which
illustrates the principles of "Thayer's Law." (See pp. 107-8.)
2.-NATURE AS A CAMOUFLAGE
ARTIST
By A. HAROLD BASTIN
EVERYONE who has paid any attention
to natural history knows that many
animals resemble their customary
surroundings in colour and form. Among
insects, we find numerous and striking in-
stances of this protective resemblance, as
it is called. Thus, green caterpillars are
often very difficult to find because they match
the leaves among which they live. Other
caterpillars simulate twigs, not only in colour
and shape, but in the stiff, stick-like pose
which they assume when they are resting
or asleep. There is, too, a whole family
of insects, related to our grasshoppers and
crickets, and known popularly as " spectres "
or " walking-sticks," whose long thin bodies
and legs look just like so many twigs or
grass-stems loosely jointed together. Most
of these insects belong to tropical regions ;
but a few are found in southern Europe ;
and one of these, called Bacillus rossii, has
been much in vogue in recent years with
British nature students as a novel " pet.*'
It feeds contentedly on privet, and will
thrive and multiply in the temperature of
an ordinary living room, even in winter.
Indeed, there is little doubt that in certain
mild, south-western localities for example,
near the sea-coast in Cornwall it could be
established permanently as an " introduced
species." Those who have kept and watched
these weird insects need not be told how
cunningly they dispose themselves among the
twigs of their food-plant, nor how difficult
it often is to count up the full complement of
one's captives, simply because one fails to
detect where the plant ends and the insect
begins.
104
CURIOSITIES OF INSECT LIFE
Photo: A. Harold Bast in.
The caterpillar of the Brussels-Lace Moth
provides a marvellous resemblance to a
lichen-covered twig.
Now one is inclined to argue that a re-
semblance which is sufficiently exact to
baulk the keen wits of
mankind must also deceive
birds and other creatures
that prey on the insects
concerned always pro-
vided that the latter
remain perfectly still. But
one must not jump too
quickly to conclusions nor
forget that many wild
creatures can, and do, track
down their prey by means
of other senses than that
of sight ; for instance, by
smell. Still, the observa-
tions of competent natura-
lists in many parts of the
world tend to show that
the resemblance of insects,
and other much-hunted
creatures, to their sur-
roundings is really " pro-
tective "and "life-saving."
Numerous instances might
be cited, of which the
following, from the pen of Sir Ray
Lankester, is typical, and especially
interesting, because this veteran biologist
tells us frankly that it is the only case in
which he himself has watched the protec-
tion afforded by colour at work. " It was
on a summer's evening when I saw this little
moth zigzagging up and down with the most
extraordinarily irregular flight, and a bird
pursuing it. Twice the bird swooped and
just missed his prey owing to a sudden turn
and drop on the part of the moth. And
then to my great delight the moth flopped
against the stem of a tree on which was
growing a greenish grey lichen. The bird
swooped again close to the tree, but failed to
see the insect, and quitted the chase. It
took me an appreciable time to detect the
little moth resting against the lichen^ and
closely matching it in colour."
We may safely assume that some, at least,
of the more striking examples of protective
resemblance have been long familiar to man ;
for such creatures as stick-insects and leaf-
like butterflies can scarcely have been passed
over without remark when our forefathers
began to take intelligent cognizance of the
world around them ; but only in compara-
tively recent years have we begun to dis-
cover what a consummate artist Nature really
Photo: A. Harold R is/in.
Nature's use of the "white spot" may be seen to perfection
in this illustration of the Common Dot Moth at rest on a
bit of gnarled black currant stem.
105
THE PAGEAHT OF NATURE
I
rhato : A.
Swallow-tail Butterfly caterpillar's feeding among carrot foliage are difficult
When it is remembered that the gaps between massed foliage, seen in full
nearly black, it is easy to realize why this should be.
is. We used to look down upon her as a sort
of well-meaning amateur. Now we realize
that there is no trick or artifice known to
man that she has not practised from time
immemorial ; and we are beginning to
suspect that she can still teach us much
concerning the technology and management
of " line," " colour," " light and shade,"
and so on, if only we can and will put our-
selves into the proper frame of mind to
learn. Indeed, it is now an open secret
that the rapid development and successful
use of what we called " camouflage " during
the Great War, both by land and at sea,
were due to a deliberate unifying of science
and art ; that is to say, naturalists and artists,
working together to promote one end, and
combining the experience gleaned from their
separate fields of research, were able not
only to make helpful suggestions, but in
many cases to show exactly " how the trick
is done."
Although the fact of " protective resem-
blance " was doubtless familiar to the early
naturalists, the strange " oneness " of Na-
ture's methods with those of a human artist
was not recognized until much later. Ap-
Harold Bastin.
to detect,
light, look
parently, Professor E. B. Poulton was the
first to lay stress upon the important prin-
ciple of shadow neutralization, or obliterative
colouring. This he did when he described
the manner in which the " joint " between
the stick-like caterpillar and the twig
which it grasps with its two hind pairs of
" claspers " or pro-legs is made difficult
to detect. " The underside of the caterpillar
is somewhat flattened, so that it is in contact
with a small part of the circumference of
the branch, and the furrow on each side is
partially filled up, at any rate in certain
species, by a number of fleshy tubercles.
The shadow which would betray the furrow
is also neutralized by the light colour of the
tubercles" Professor Poulton also empha-
sized the protective value of appropriate
shading in the case of the large green pupa of
the purple emperor butterfly, which closely
resembles the sallow leaves among which
it is suspended. This pupa, or chrysalis,
actually measures on the average 8.5 mm.
in its thickest part ; yet it looks flat like
a leaf. " The dorsal side of the pupa forms
a very thin sharp ridge for part of its length,
but the slope is much more pronounced in
106
CURIOSITIES OF IHSECT LIFE
other parts and along the whole ventral side.
But exactly in these places, where the
obvious thickness would destroy the re-
semblance to a leaf, the whole effect of the
roundness is neutralized by increased light-
ness, so disposed as just to compensate for
the shadow by which alone we judge of the
roundness of small objects. The degree of
whiteness is produced by the relative
abundance of white dots and a fine white
marbling of the surface, which is everywhere
present mingled with the green. The effect
is, in fact, produced by a process exactly
analogous to stippling. The degree of
lightness produced in this way exactly
corresponds to the angle of the slope, which,
of course, determines the depth of the
shadow. By this beautiful and simple
method the pupa appears to be as flat as a
leaf, which is only a small fraction of i mm.
in thickness."
These two observations undoubtedly
supply us with the key to a true understand-
ing of Nature's protective colouring. But
their significance was scarcely realized until
Mr. Abbot H. Thayer, the American artist-
naturalist, called attention to the fact (now
well recognized) that the presence of an
animal may be betrayed to its enemies by
the sharpness of its outline, or by the
shadow which it casts, even if its tints
accord perfectly with the background against
which it is seen. He went on to remind us
that a human artist, by the process known as
" shading " i.e. painting in of shadow
produces the appearance of relief, or solidity,
on his flat canvas. Now Nature so
Mr. Thayer claimed often aims at pro-
ducing an exactly opposite effect. Her
shading results in what we may speak of as
a " painting out of shadows," the result
being that the appearance of solidity is
effaced. To illustrate his theory Mr. Thayer
made a model, replicas of w T hich may be seen
Photo: A. Harold Rastin.
Two pupae OP chrysalides of the Purple Emperor Moth suspended among sallow leaves,
to which they bear an extraordinary resemblance.
ic;
THE PAGEANT OF NATURE
in a number of
museums throughout
the country. This
model supplies us
with a very con-
vincing explanation
of the fact that many
birds, beasts, fishes,
insects, etc., are dark
above and white or
Phvto: Hugh. Main.
The caterpillar of the
Black Arches Moth
(Lymantria monacha)
seen upon the bark
of an oak.
.' Hi<h Main.
The Oak-feeding Moth
(Boarmia roborarfa] is
barely distinguishable
as it rests on the
bark of the tree.
pale below. Briefly,
the model is a box
with its top and one
of its sides removed,
in which two dummy
birds are fixed. Both
the latter are covered
with the same grey
material with which
the box is lined.
One is otherwise un-
coloured, and is rendered very conspicuous
by the illumination of its back, and the