CROCODILIANS, LIZARDS, AND SNAKES. 



1175 



dripped from his fangs and, with liis violent expiration or hisses, was 

 thrown toward, without leachiiig nie. My ascription of this habit to 

 rattlesnalies in my Synopsis of Snakes of North America ' brought out 

 in the pages of Forest and Stream some vigorous protests and asser- 

 tions that I was quite in error. Among my critics was Capt. Charles 

 Bendire, who lias seen a great deal of rattlesnakes in the West. How- 

 ever, the circumstance occurred as 1 now state it. At the same time 

 it is the only time that I have observed it. The habit is probably not 

 common among rattlesnakes, but it is nevertheless usual among venom- 

 ous snakes, and the genus Crotalus is not likely to be an exception. 



CROTALUS CONFLUENTUS LECONTEI Hallowell. 



Crotalus lecontei Hallowell, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., VI, 1852, p. 80; Sit- 

 greaves's Rept. Exped. Zuni aud Colorado Rivers, 1853, p. 139; U. S. Pac. 

 R. R.Rept., X, Williamson's Rept., 1859, p. 18. 



Crotalus conjtuentus lucifer Cope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Phila., 1883, p. 11. 



Fig. 3;i8. 



Crotalus confluentus lkcontki Hallowell. 



= 1. 



Rush Late, Utah. 



Cat. No. 8143, U.S.N. M. 



This form is the C. confinenUis of the Great Basin. Althougli it is 

 quite diflerent from the typical G. confluenUis, 1 can not distinguish it 

 as a species. It is indeed more closely allied to the Californian sub- 

 si)ecies C. c. lucifer, and although it is not ditticult to distinguish most 

 individuals of the two, the differences rest largely on color and form of 

 the head and other features of no great constancy. 



Cephalic scales smallest; eight rows between superciliaries; four 

 rows below orbit; dorsal spots and headbands light-edged or not; 

 numerous posterior cross-bands. The general appearance is that of a 



'Proc. U. S. Nat. Mus., XV, 1892, p. 687. 



