674 REPTILES—CROTALID®. 
CROTALOPHORUS TERGEMINUS Holbrook. 
Prairie Rattlesnake or Massassauga. 
Crotalus tergeminus, SAY, HARLAN, DUMERIL and BIBRON. 
Crotalophorus kirtlandii ?, HOLBROOK, DEKAy, Cops. 
General color varying from ash to brown, spots of dark-brown 
margined with black, and exterior to this a still lighter circle; 
vertebral blotches 34 in number, almost quadrate, notched in 
front and behind, and extending from the neck to the tail; two 
or three series of lateral blotches on each side varying from cir- 
cular to oblong; a light line begins upon the neck and, passing 
forwards, bifurcates, giving a branch to the upper and one to 
the lower jaw; a transverse line of light crosses the vertical 
plate ; a white or yellowish line begins upon the neck, rnns for- 
ward, bifureates, and again nearly or quite meets in front so as to 
almost or quite enclose a dark blotch situated for the most part 
upon the occipital plates; beneath light colored to black; dorsal 
bi | 
scales in 25 rows; gastrosteges 140-150; urosteges 25-30, the last oh So oaent aie 
three to five bifid; vertical plate sub-hexagonal, sometimes di- ing cephalic region 
vided so as to leave a small triangular one behind; labials Covered with plates. 
11-12 below, 12-14 above; anteorbitals elongated longitudinally ; rostral irregularly 
hexagonal. Length, 2 1-6 feet; head, 14 inches; tail, 2% inches; transverse diameter of 
head, inch; of neck, 4 inch; circumference of body, 4 inches. 
Habitat, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, Georgia, 
and ‘‘Indian Territory.” 
In the State I have only seen specimens from Warren county, but pre- 
sume it occurs in all parts of Ohio. It lives in marshes, though I have 
seen it on elevated and dry grounds. Its bite is justly dreaded by per- 
sons compelled to frequent such places. It rarely, if ever, strikes with- 
out warning, and never unless disturbed. 
Var. kirtlandii, also an inhabitant of Warren county, differs from this 
by being of a nearly uniform black with brown blotches above in the 
adult. 
The specimen of C. tergeminus which I have seen from Wisconsin have a 
broader head, and the transition from head to neck is more abrupt than 
in Illinois or Ohio specimens, while a specimen from Lenawee county, 
Michigan, shows a head scarcely broader than the neck. It will thus be 
seen that the shape of the head as well as the coloration varies materially 
in this species. ‘ 
CROTALOPHORUS MILIARIUS Linnzeus. 
Ground Rattlesnake. 
Crotalus miliarius, LINN2ZUS, GMELIN, MERREM, SCHLEGEL, HARLAN, HOLBROOK, DuM- 
ERIL and BIBRON. 
Caudisona miliarius, FITZINGER, WAGLER. 
Crotalophorus miliarius, HOLBROOK, Gray, DEKay, BAIRD and GIRARD, CoPE. 
