SERPENTS. 



395 



The copporlioad is of a brmizo lia/.d or light rcildisli lirowii abovo, with a scries of 

 transverse, dark brown bands which enhirge on the flanks into blotches. The lower 

 surface is of a flesli color and spotted, as is much of the back, with minute dots of 

 dark brown. Along each flank is a row of dark spots alternating with and between 

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



FlG. 228. — Aiicistmdou pisirivoma, water-nioccasiu 



jiosed 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-tive rows. 

 The water-moccasin, A. /jiscivoriis, is an animal dreaded by the travelers of the 

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

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



