430 REPORT OF NATIONAL MUSEUM, 1893. 



We have been told that Rattlesuakes arc still occasionally killed iu Conuecticut 

 near the Rhode Island border. It is generally stated that the last Rattlesnake was 

 killed iu Rhode Island twenty years ago, but we are informed by Prof. Battey that 

 one was killed at Tiverton, R. I., within a period of four years. Its skin is now iu 

 the museum of the Friends' School at Providence. Mr. Henry H. Buxton, a member 

 of this school, from Peabody, Mass., gives us the following statement regarding its 

 occurrence at that locality : 



'Tn South Peabody there is a rock called Rattlesnake Rock, surrounded by woods 

 in which there are a great many snakes, including tho Rattlesnake. During the last 

 year three or four have been killed by different persons. They coufiue themselves 

 to the part of the town which is the most rocky and slightly elevated. In the winter 

 they get luider this rock and go to sleep." 



Rattlesnakes are still common in the Milton Hills, near Bostou, and at Hyde Park. 



Iu coiifiriuatiuii of the occurrence of the Rattlesnake iu Conuecticut, 

 my friend, JNlr. John H. Sage, sent uie two specimens iul893 from Port- 

 laud. He wrote me at the same time that quite a uumber are killed iu 

 this immediate vicinity (Portland) each season. As early as 1842 

 Thompson (Hist. A^ermout, i, p. 119) says that iu Vermont they have 

 uow uearly disappeared, but that formerly they were found in consid- 

 erable numbers, thouiih mostly confined t<» a very few localities. 



In the same year De Kay speaks of the Itattlesnake in the State of 

 New York (Zool, X. Y., iii, p. 57) as follows: 



The Rattlesnake is common iu various parts of the State, and in the Northern States 

 generally appears to prefer rocky situations. They abound in Clinton, Essex, and 

 WaiTen counties, along the shores of Lakes Champlaiu and George. Some idea 

 may be formed of their numbers in certain districts iu this State bj' the following 

 extract from the Clairon newspaper, published in Warren County: 



"Two men, in three days, killed 1,104 Rattlesnakes on the east side of Tongue Mouu- 

 tain,in the town of Bolton. Some of the reptiles were very large, carrying from 

 15 to 20 rattles. They were killed for their oil, or grease, which is said to be very 

 valuable." 



Although numerous iu the rocky, mountainous districts of this State, they are rare 

 or entirely wanting in those elevated regions which give rise to the Moose, the 

 Raquet, and the Hudson rivers. They are found iu tlie counties of Sullivan, Ulster, 

 Orange, and Greene. A few still linger iu the swamps of Suffolk County. 



This may be sui)plemented with the following statement from Prof. 

 Baird's "Serpents of N^ew York," p. 10 (ISjI): 



In New York it seems to be most abundant on the shores of Lake George and Lake 

 Champlaiu; especially iu Rattlesnake Mountain of the former and Rattlesnake den 

 of the latter, a rocky blutf between Westport and Essex. It is a little remarkable 

 that the rattlesnake does not occur in the Adiroudaik regions of New York ; at least, 

 au instance has never come to my knowledge. Such a region iu Pennsylvania would 

 be Infested by them. 



As indicated in the last sentence it is still fairly common in the 

 Alleghany ]Mountaius, from Pennsylvania southwards, though by no 

 means confined to the high altitude, as we have specimens from Wil- 

 mington, in North Carolina, Liberty County and Saint Simons Isle, 

 Georgia, while Dr. E. Coues quotes it as conuuon in the vicinity of 

 Fort Macon, North Carolina, and certainly occurring on the islands 

 as well. 



