SIXTEENTH ANNUAL REPORT 79 
DEPARTMENT OF REPTILES 
Raymond L. Ditmars, Curator; Charles E. Snyder, Head Keeper. 
Although the Reptile House has been taxed to its capacity 
for some years, and the collection of reptiles has always been 
kept at a high standard, a number of features were added during 
ihe past year, which were of a nature to make the building more 
attractive and draw the attention of the visitor to important 
specimens either of economic value or danger to man. 
The series of economic reptiles has been changed from time 
to time so as to represent in turn the reptilian fauna of the 
United States, that of continental Europe, of the West Indies 
and other parts of the world. 
In order to attract visitors’ attention to the poisonous snakes 
ef the United States and of other countries, and to convey an 
idea of the character of country they inhabit, we have made a 
successful trial of the modelling and painting of panoramic back- 
erounds with accessories in the large snake cages. The effect 
of perspective thus attained adds so materially to the already 
pleasing interior of the Reptile House that we are rapidly push- 
ine this work, and by the end of the summer will have the entire 
series of large cages on the north side of the main hall of the 
Reptile House treated in this way. The panoramic paintings are 
the work of Mr. Ernest A. Costain. 
The first scene attempted represents a ledge in the mountains 
of Sullivan County, N. Y., containing a typical rattlesnake den. 
Another shows a rocky shelf on the Palisades of the Hudson 
River, inhabited by a colony of copperhead snakes. One of the 
most attractive of these cages represents a glade in a bamboo 
jungle. The ground is occupied by Indian cobras, while the leafy 
bower overhead is inhabited by several brilliantly-colored tree 
snakes. Our visitors are thus enabled to examine the dangerous 
reptiles in surroundings comparatively natural, note the simi- 
larity of their colors to the tone of the vegetation, and the conse- 
quent difficulty of immediately discovering the reptile close at 
hand. The snakes appear to enjoy their new surroundings, par- 
ticularly because they are given opportunities to hide when they 
choose, although this latter habit makes it necessary to place a 
considerable number in a cage, in order that there always may 
be a certain number of specimens in view. 
Among the important accessions during the year, the fol- 
lowing are worthy of mention: 
