404 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893. 



Variation. — There is considerable individual variation in the size of 

 the parietal plates, and the number of sui)ralabials varies bet\Yeen 7 

 and 8, as shown by Prof. Cope. The regular number of scale rows 

 across the middle of the body is 23, but occasionally a specimen may 

 be found with 25. 



We have already referred to the probably melanistic variation of 

 specimens from Tennessee which have been described as A. atrofuscus. 

 The number of dark cross-bands is also very variable, as shown in the 

 description given above. Mr. Ragsdale has, in letters to me, alluded 

 to the fact that the specimens taken by him in Texas had the tip of 

 the tail greenish, while in eastern specimens it is stated to be blackish. 

 The material at hand, faded through long immersion in alcohol, throws 

 but little light upon the question, but in freshly killed specimens from 

 the neighborhood of Washington, 1 find that in the adult specimens 

 the tip of the tail above is of the same dark brownish color as the 

 dorsal blotches; in the young specimens, liowever, it is bright greenish 

 yellow, and it seems quite probable that in half-grown si^ecimens it 

 may be of an intermediate olivaceous color. 



Geographical distrihution. — In a general way the range of the Copper- 

 head is coextensive with that of the Banded Kattlesnake, Grotalus 

 horridus, though as a rule it does not extend quite as far North. As 

 a compensation it goes considerably further South in the western por- 

 tion of its range, extending into the southern part of Texas. 



In the Kortheast it does not seem to reach further North than central 

 Massachusetts, though DeKay states that Ilolbrook had received spec- 

 imens from Vermont. Dr. J. A. Allen (Proc. Boston Soc. Nat. Hist., 

 XII, 18G8, p. 11) speaks of its occurrence in Massachusetts as follows: 



There is a well-known den of this specieis on Mount Tom, near which a consider- 

 able number of specimens are annually killed by different individuals. I have not 

 heard of it elsewhere in the State [Massachusetts], thongh Linsley has reported it 

 from Connecticut. 



It is repeatedly asserted that the Copperhead does not occur in 

 Florida; but while it does not appear to be found in the peninsula 

 proper, it has been taken at its very base, as testitied by specimens 

 from Gainesville sent to the National Museum by Judge J. Bell. 



In Michigan, Wisconsin, and Nebraska it is lacking, and apparently 

 also in Iowa, as I find no reliable record of its capture in that State. 



In Indiana, writes Dr. Hay, this venomous serpent, once abundant 

 in most localities of the southern half of the State, is now happily 

 becoming rare; in most localities it is probably entirely exterminated. 

 Where, however, the country is not thickly settled, and where there 

 are abundant forests and rocks, it may even yet be found in consider- 

 able numbers. In the northern portion of the State it has probably 

 always been scarce, but still present. The record for Illinois as given 

 by H. Garman is similar: ''Throughout the State; rare north, frequent 

 south." 



West of the Mississippi it has been recorded from Missouri and 



