648 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF NEW JERSEY. 



a decided predilection to dairies and cellars. Beyond the trouble 

 caused by their fondness of milk, however, they are of no harm. 

 They feed also upon grasshoppers." 



Family CROTALIDJE. 



Poisonous Snakes. 



These snakes are known by the triangular head, which has a pit 

 between the nostril and eye. There are three American genera, two 

 of which occur on the Atlantic side of the Alleghanies. 



CROTALUS, L. 



O. horridus, L. Banded or Northern Rattlesnake. 



Tail provided with a rattle of horny epidermal rings ; scales 

 on top of head small, the largest in front ; general color sulphur 

 brown in various shades, with two rows of confluent, brown, 

 lozenge-shaped spots ; tail black ; scales carinate. Number of 

 rows of scales, 23 to 25; gasterosteges, 165 to 170; length, 40 

 to 60 inches. 



" This dreaded serpent is found only in the southern counties 

 of the State, and is not abundant except in a few limited locali- 

 ties. No specimens have been taken north of Trenton or New 

 Brunswick during the past fifty years " (1868). [C. C. A.] 



ANCISTRODON, Beauv. 



(Toxicophis. Trigonocephalus, Holbr.) 



A. contortrix, L. Copperhead. 



Hazel brown ; top of head coppery ; back with a series of 

 twenty-five dark blotches of the form of Y; yellowish below, 

 with dark blotches. Number of rows of scales, 23 ; gasteros- 

 teges, 150 to 160; length, 35 to 40 inches. 



" This venomous species is rare within State limits, and only 

 to be met with in the northern mountainous districts. The 

 author has seen a single specimen, which was killed near New- 

 ton, Sussex county, in November, 1864." [C. C. A.] 



