192
THE ESSEX NATURALIST
of wood, in compost heaps, dry walls, on mole hills, in hay stacks,
in rough grasses, along rabbit runs, and once in some debris in an
old wheelbarrow. This list gives some idea of the varied haunts
of the Slow-worm.
One exciting discovery was the large proportion of blue-spotted
Slow-worms discovered. On 15th May 1960 at Rochford out of
nine Slow-worms collected (eight males and one female) no fewer
than five of the males were blue-spotted, two of them being ex-
ceptional specimens. Again on 23rd April 1961 at the same place
several more specimens were taken including two of the best we
have ever seen and at Hullbridge later in the day we had the good
luck to collect some more. So far, we have only collected blue-
spotted males, which confirms the usually accepted opinion that
only males have these markings. There are a number of questions
to be answered in future work, amongst them, does the male only
acquire these spots as part of his breeding dress in the spring,
if so why not all males and why is there a preponderance of these
in one area and none in others?
We have found that more of the spotted specimens are taken
in the spring than later in the year, and specimens kept in
captivity tend to lose their spots over a period of a few weeks,
leaving in their place a light brown mark.
It is safe to say that the Lizard (Lacerta vivipara) is extremely
common in Essex, it has been noted at all the places already
mentioned in this article, and the team have examined hundreds
during the last two years of the survey. We have not found any
unusual lizards, but in a section along the railway at Rochford all
the specimens taken were larger than any seen or collected else-
where except for some individuals.
The biggest surprise has been the scarcity of Frogs (Rana
temporaria). During the whole time, we saw none of these creatures
and the only records I have relate to Brentwood where fifty pairs
were seen in a pond in 1960, and a report of spawn at Shenfield
Common. In my experience the Frog would appear to be most
common in garden ponds in the London area. We have to rely
mainly on reports from Members for this amphibian and also the
Toad, because it is not possible for us to visit many Essex ponds
during the time that they are spawning, as at this time we try
to make a more complete study in Epping Forest. One report
received in 1956 states that Frogs are common at Gt. Baddow,
Galleywood, Broomfield, Little Baddow, Danbury and Widford.
A report from Braintree in 1958 states that they were fairly
common but decreasing. Two further records come from Bel-
champ St. Paul in the North East corner of Essex and from
Bishops Stortford.
From the little information that we have about the Frog we fear
that it is fast becoming rare in the county, probably due to the
filling in of farm ponds, collecting for laboratory work, the depre-
dations of small boys and the possibility of poisoning by crop
spraying, the residue of which is washed into local ponds by rain.