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yellowish lateral band. Beneath it is pale yel- 
low with four rows of dark spots. 
Both of these species are comparatively rare 
in the Delaware valley. They are not as pre- 
daceous among the fish of our streams as the 
water adder, as their food consists mainly of 
toads, frogs and tadpoles. 
THE SPREADING ADDER. 
“Now, my dear Fritz, grant me your special 
attention to my notes on the most interesting 
species of our common snakes. This is the 
hog-nose snake, spreading adder, blowing viper 
or flat adder, as it is variously called in dif- 
ferent parts of the country. The spreading 
adder—Heterodon platyrhinus—attains a length 
of about thirty inches when full grown. It has 
a stout, ungraceful body, with abruptly taper- 
ing tail. The skin, especially about the neck, 
is quite loose, thus giving to the snake a clumsy, 
soft appearance, so different from the compact, 
graceful form of all other species of our com- 
mon snakes. This species is quite variable in 
coloration, but generally it is yellowish-brown 
above, marked with about thirty dark brown 
spots along the back, growing into bands along 
the tail. Beneath it is yellowish, clouded with 
slate color. The name hog-nose snake gets its 
derivation from the peculiar shape of its muz- 
zle ; this is pointed triangularly, slightly turned 
