Lizards; but Lacépède asserts that it continues to live in its burrow, coming up to obtain air and food, when it raises its head out of its hole ready to retreat on any alarm. "Even in the winter," says Mr. Martin, "it sometimes does this, though snow may be on the ground, if the sun be shining with a warm though transient gleam."[1] In summer it may frequently be seen on sunny banks and beneath hedges, enjoying the warmth and basking in the genial beam: it is easily captured, and as easily killed, for its fright produces the rigid brittleness already described, instead of quickening its efforts to escape.
The food of the Slow-worm must of necessity be very small, for the mouth not being dilatable, as in the true Snakes, it cannot possibly receive such prey as Frogs, Toads, and Rats, which have been absurdly assigned to it. Professor Bell has found insects in its stomach, and M. de Sept Fontaines asserts that it will readily feed on earth-worms, even of six or seven inches in length. But yet another prey seems to be still more acceptable, according to the following very interesting note by Mr. Daniel.
"A Blind-worm that I kept alive for nine weeks, would, when touched, turn and bite, although not very sharply: its bite was not sufficient to draw blood, but it always retained its hold until released. It drank sparingly of milk, raising its head when drinking. It fed upon the little white slug (Limax agrestis, Linn.) so common in fields and gardens, eating six or seven of them, one after another; but it did not eat every day. It
- ↑ Pict. Mus. ii. 99.
