ASCRIBED TO THE RATTLE-SNAKE, &c. jto3 



thefe kinds of birds. Hence, we (o frequently hear tales 

 of the fafcuiation of our cat-bird, which builds its neil 

 in the low bufhes, on the fides of creeks, and other 

 waters, the moft ufual haunts of the black- fnake, and 

 other ferpents. Hence, too, upon opening the fto- 

 machs of feme of our ferpents, if we often find that they 

 contain birds, it is alnioft entirely thofe birds which build 

 in the manner I have juft mentioned. 



This fadl I had long remarked. It had made fome 

 impreffion upon my mind before I had turned my at- 

 tention to the fubjedl of this memoir. Lately, when I 

 came to take a view of the fubjeCt, the fa£t appeared to 

 me to be of fome confequence. I fliall now avail myfelf 

 of it. 



The rattle-fnake feldom, if ever, climbs up trees*. He 

 is frequently, however, found about their roots, efpeci- 



* Some refpeiflable writers afTert, that the rattle-fnake does climb trees, 

 and thut it does it with eafe. Mr. de la Ccpede is of this opinion. After 

 telling us that this reptile lives upon worms, frogs, and hares, this natura- 

 lift proceeds: " il fait auffi fa proie d'oifeaux & d'ecureuils ; car il montt 

 avec facilite fur les arbres, & s'y elance avec vivacitc de branche en branche, 

 ainfi que fur les pc intes des rcchers qu'il habite, & ce n'efl; que dans la 

 plaine qu'il court avec difficultc, & qu'il eft plus aise d'eviter fa pourfuite." 

 HlPoire NaturdU des Serpens, p. 409. At the conclufion of his account of 

 the boiquira, or crotalus horridus, the eloquent author has run into the 

 lame error, in the following beautiful, though rather poetical, apoftrophe. 

 " Trar.quilles habitans de nos contrees tempcrees, que nous fommes plus 

 heureux, loin de ces plages ou la chaleur & I'humiditc legnent avec tant de 

 force ! Nous ne voyons point un Serpent funefte infefler I'eau au milieu de 

 laquelle il nage avec facilite ; les arljres dont il parcourt les rameaux avec 

 viteiie ; la terre dont il peuple les cavernes ; les bois folitaires, oii il exerce 

 le meme empire que le tigre dans fes dcferts brulans, and dont I'obfcuritc 

 livre plus fiirement fa proie a fa morfure. Ne regrettons pas les beaiites 

 iiaturelles de ces climats plus chauds que le notre, leurs arbres plus toufFus, 

 leurs feuillages plus agrcables, leurs fleurs plus fuaves, plus belles : ces 

 fieuis, ces feuillages, ces arbres cachent la demeure du Serpent a. fonnelte." 

 Hijloirs Natui-elle des Serpens, p. 419 & 420. I have been at fome pains to 

 difcover whether the rattle-fnake does climb up trees. The refult of my 

 inquiries is that it does not. Although I have had opportunities of feeing 

 great numbers of rattle fnakes in the wellern parts of Pennfylvania, &c. par- 

 ticularly in the vicinity of the river Ohio, I never faw one of them except 

 O z on 



