Note 282 — Chapter XXII · THE ORNITHOLOGY.

The Forest would afford a good field for deciding the controversy as to whether our tame pigs are descended from the European Wild Boar. (See Proceedings of the Zoological Society, 1861, p. 264; and Annals and Magazine of Natural History, Third Series, vol. ix. p. 415.) Certain it is that here are some breeds distinct in their markings. I must not, too, forget to mention Coronella lævis (Boie), which is found in the Forest, as also in Dorsetshire and Kent. This is the Coronella austriaca of Laurenti, and afterwards the Coluber lævis of Lacépede. It might be mistaken for the common viper (Pelias berus), but differs in not being venomous, as also from the ringed snake (Natrix torquata) in having a fang at the hinder extremity of its jaws, the peculiarity of the genus Coronella. It feeds on lizards, which its fang enables it to hold; drinks a great deal of water; and Dr. Günther, of the British Museum, to whom I am indebted for the above information, tells me that it crawls up the furze and low bushes to lick the rain off the leaves. For a list of the Lepidoptera of the New Forest, see Appendix IV.