SERPENTS. 



395 



The coppcrheafl is of a bronze liazol or light reddish brown above, with a series of 

 transverse, dark brown bands wliieh enlarge on the tlanks into blotches. The lower 

 surface is of a flesh color and sjiotted, as is much of the back, with minute dots of 

 (lark brown. Along each flank is a row of dark spots altcrnnting with and between 

 the bifurcations of the dorsal bands. There is a loreal j.late, and the scales are dis- 



FlG. 228. — Ancistr(Hionpi:ii:ii'OiUi, w iacr-moccasin. 



posed in twenty-three rows. These last characters at once separate the present form 

 from the succeeding, which has no loreal, and the scales arranged in twenty-five rows. 

 The water-moccasin, .^-l. ^^i'sci'yorKs, is an animal dreaded by the travelers of the 

 Bouth even more than is the rattle-snake. While the latter only takes the defensive 

 on being irritated, and ordinarily makes its presence known by sounding its alarm, the 



