190 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [Mar., 



food is swallowed head first. The largest spechnen (No. 6,251) 

 had the stomach full of parasites and in the intestine just back of 

 the stomach were a few more. 



20. Crotalus adamanteus Beauvais : Diamond Rattlesnake ; Diamond-back Rattlesnake ; 



" Rattlesnake." 



One specimen was taken during our stay in the swamp. On June 



21, 1912, Mr. Jackson Lee secured it in the late afternoon in the 



Pocket. His dog had discovered it and Mr. Lee "crooned" (threw 

 a chunk) it with a chunk of wood, but the rattles were broken off 

 in the process. The specimen must have been 4|-5 feet long, for 

 the leng-th to the anus is 115 cm. The gastrosteges are 181; anal 

 entire; scales 29-27-21; three rows of scales between suboculars 

 and labials; seven rows between supraoculars which are transversely 

 ridged; loreal, one on the right side and two on the left side. Two 

 or three other diamond-backs were killed on the west border of the 

 swamp near Fargo while we were in the swamp. 



This largest of our poisonous snakes proves a serious economic 

 factor to the inhabitants of Okefinokee Swamp. The Lees assert 

 that in 1910 alone they lost 10-15 head of hogs killed by this species 

 and other rattlers. In some seasons the rattlers and bears com- 

 bined compel the Lees to go outside the swamp for new hog stock. 

 They further contend that hogs are not wholly immune, but that 

 the hogs will eat dead rattlers, preferring the heads. At other 

 times they eat the heads first and later the body, or in some instances 

 the whole snake at once. They are not so certain that the hogs are 

 such mortal enemies of the rattlers as they are reputed to be. In 

 some seasons the rattlers are very common; during the season of 1912 

 they were scarce, as the one capture shows. They occur throughout 

 the swamp. On Minne Lake Islands they are frequent. Doubtless 

 this is due to the infrequent visits of the swamp's inhabitants who 

 almost invariably record them there on their hunting trips, having 

 counted as many as 14 on one expedition. On our last trip to the 

 Minne Lake Islands one of the native dogs was bitten by a rattle- 

 snake, Ijut reached Billy's Island two days after our arrival. It 

 travelled two miles throughout the thickest swampy tangle of the 

 swamp, swam Billy's Lake and appeared with its fore leg badly 

 swollen from the bite, but it soon recovered, as they frequently but 

 not always do. 



21, Crotalus horridus Linnaeus: Banded Rattlesnake; Timber Rattlesnake; Common Rattle- 

 snake; Rattlesnake; Cane Rattler; Cane-brake Rattler; " Siminole Rattler." 



One specimen was recorded June 25, 1912, by Prof. J. C. Bradley 

 and Mr. P. Battle on the short-cut trail to Gallberry Island. The 



