340 REPTILES OF THE WORLD 



gracefully slender and it is highly active for a pit viper. 

 A ten-foot specimen when coiled shows less bulk than a 

 seven-foot diamond rattlesnake of the Southeastern 

 United States — Crotalus adamanteus. 



To Mr. R. R. Mole of Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, the 

 writer is much indebted for valuable information con- 

 cerning this interesting snake and for the few living 

 specimens that have ever been exhibited in the United 

 States. In a capacious cage in the Reptile House of the 

 New York Zoological Park, supplied with tropical vege- 

 tation, generous hiding places and an abundance of food, 

 the story with each specimen has been the same — a stub- 

 born, suicidal fast. So high strung and nervous is the 

 organization of this snake, to force food down its throat 

 in an endeavor to keep it alive is to kill it. The shock 

 of overpowering it seems to benumb the reptile and 

 hinders the subsequent assimilation of the forced meal. 

 Not one specimen has been induced to feed, nor has the 

 writer ever heard of a captive that has fed voluntarily. 

 Thus the life in captivity is at the longest, four to five 

 months. There is always difficulty in shedding the skin. 

 It appears probable, that in a wild state the reptile 

 softens the skin by burrowing into vegetable debris, 

 thence sloughing off the epidermis in this soft medium. 



The Bushmaster seems to be the only species of Crota- 

 line snake that lays eggs — as originally described by 

 Mr. Mole. An extract from a letter by Mr. Mole to 

 the writer follows : — 



I believe the Lachesis (which I hope you received safely) contains eggs. 

 You will remember that one I had laid a batch of some ten or twelve 

 eggs three years ago. I have since learned that similar bunches of eggs 

 have been occasionally found by hunters in holes inhabited by the Paca, 

 Ccelogenys and the Armadillo and other burrowing animals, in which speci- 

 mens of Lachesis mittus are often found. I have seen these snakes dug out 

 of such holes, but I have only seen the eggs laid in my cage. The snake 

 is most frequently found on slight eminences — seldom in hollows. The hole 



