1164 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1898. 



Dr. Eiuar La^'unberg^ writes of this species as follows: 



In the interior of Florida the dianioud-backed rattlesnal\e is scarce, hut not so 

 along the coast and on some of the Florida keys. In the neighborhood of Ozoua, in 

 Hillsboro CoTinty, I heard of the killing of nine rattlesnakes within two weeks in 

 October, 1893. It evidently prefers the neighborhood of the water, and is a good 

 swimmer, not afraid to cross over from ''key" to "key." If not too often disturbed 

 this species is slow and does not rattle nnless offended. I saw one in the hitter part 

 of October in the ])inc woods near Toronto, Orange Connty, coiled np under a pal- 

 metto bush. A dog following ns went up and sniffed at him, with his nose hardly 

 a foot from the snake. We called the dog back, and a man ran forward with a whip 

 and struck the snake sevei'al times. After the second blow the snake began to rattle 

 and make himself ready to strike. This shows plainly the slow nature of the snake. 

 In other cases they are more easily offended. Those kept in boxes and cages often 

 begin to rattle as soon as they see anyone approaching. They are easy to keep alive, 

 and take food without trouble. I saw one that was kept in a small box and was fed 

 with toads; it did so well there that it changed its skin twice in a summer. They 

 are often kept in the shops of taxidermists and in " curiosity stores," where northern 

 tourists buy them, paying good prices. The skin is often used for ornaments or for 

 the manufacture of pocketbooks and similar objects. 



People are very seldom bitten by rattlesnakes in Florida. The rattling, the strong 

 odor, and the slowness of the snake are protective. The snake is often caught by 

 placing an empty barrel over the coils, after which a board is shoved under the snake 

 and the whole thing turned over. 



CROTALUS ADAMANTEUS ATROX Baird and Girard. 



Crotalus adamauteiis atrox Copk, Check-list N. Amer. Batr. Rept., p. 33; Rept. U. 



S. Geog. Survey, W. 100th Mer., Y, 1875, p. 607. 

 Crotalus utrox lUinn and Girakd, Cat. N. Araer. Rept., Pt. 1, Serp., 18.55, p.5.— 



Baird, U. S. and Max. Bound. Surv., Reptiles, 1859, ]). 14; U.S.Pacific K. R. 



Rept., X, Whipple's Rept., 1859, p. 39.— Stejneger, Rept. U. S. Nat. Mus. 



for 1893, 1895, p. 40(5, pi. xi. 

 Figures, U. S. Pac. R. R. Rept. Reptiles, pi. xxiv, fig. 3; U. S. Mex. Bound. Surv., 



Reptiles, pi. i. 



Plates Oil bead ; two internasals in contact; between tbese and super- 

 ciliaries, on side of tbe crown, two imbricated plates. Space inclosed 

 occupied by smaller scales. Superciliaries bordered by a row of larger 

 scales ; the anterior much largest. Three rows of scales between labials 

 and suborbitals. Labials sixteen above; first, fifth, and seventh larg- 

 est; fifteen below, first and third largest; one loreal plate, which rep- 

 resents the inferior loreal of the C. a. adamanteus, except in specimens 

 from lower California, where the superior loreal is present. Scales in 

 25 — '21 rows, the exterior smooth. 



General style of coloration somewhat as in G. adamanteus. Ground- 

 color above dull yellowish brown, with a series of subhexagonal patches 

 from the head nearly to the tail, in an uninterrupted series, separated 

 throughout by narrow lines. We may refer the markings to the inter- 

 section of light yellowish lines, about forty in number, crossing obliquely 

 from each side across to the other, along the anterior half of as many 

 oblique series of scales. The lateral decussation is along the sixth row 



' Notes on Reptiles and Batrachians collected in Florida in 1892 and 1893. Proc. 

 U. S. Nat. Mus., XVII, 1894, p. 335. 



