2608 



SCALED REPTILES 



spots with white edges, which frequently run one into another, the first dark spot on 

 the neck differing from the rest by its horseshoe form. The distributional area of 

 this snake extends eastward from the Volga to the Yenisei. In Europe the halys 

 viper inhabits the steppes between the Volga and the Urals, but its true home is 

 Central Asia. 



In North America, one of the best-known and most widely - 

 distributed members of the genus is the copperhead, or moccasin 

 snake (A. contortrix}, which seldom much exceeds a yard in length. 

 The body is strong and thick, the short tail provided with one row of shields infe- 



Copperhead 

 Snake 



COPPERHEAD OR MOCCASIN SNAKK 



(Two-fifths natural size.) 



riorly and with a horny appendage at the end, while the elongated triangular head 

 is markedly distinct from the neck, with the pits on the snout rather shallow, and 

 the gape of the mouth very wide, and there are no small smooth shields behind the 

 large parietals. A beautiful coppery brown, becoming lighter on the sides, forms 

 the ground color of the upper parts, upon which some sixteen reddish brown dark- 

 edged bands, becoming wider on the flanks, have given rise to the name of mocca- 

 sin snake. On the under parts the shields are copper red, marked on the sides with 

 large polygonal or rounded alternating dusky spots. The head is generally lighter 

 colored than the body, and marked by a broad stripe running from the snout along 

 the side to the angle of the mouth. The distribution of the copperhead extends 



