SYSTEMATIC ZOOLOGY 





Mexico ; but the true rattlers belong to the genus Crotalus (Fig. 

 323), of which we have about fifteen species. The rattles at 

 the tip of the tail are merely remains of the cast-off skin, 

 and as thev break off readily they give no indication of the 



age of the snake, 

 as popular belief 

 asserts. The 

 western black 

 rattlesnake, Cro- 

 talus lucifer, is 

 most abundant 

 south of the 

 Columbia River. 

 In the southern 

 United States we 

 have the diamond 

 or water rattler, 

 Crotalus adaman- 

 teus, often found 

 in damp places. 

 East of the Mis- 

 sissippi the most 

 abundant is Cro- 

 talus Ji or rid 11s. 

 the banded rattle- 

 snake, about a 

 meter Ion,-, and 

 ranging from 

 Maine to Texas. 

 It feeds upon 

 small rabbits, rats, and squirrels. In California, Arizona, and 

 Mexico is found in desert regions the curious horned rattler, 

 Crotalus cerastes, which resembles the horned viper of Africa. 

 In Arizona also is the species Crotalus pyrrhns, noteworthy 

 because of its brilliant red color. The story that serpents charm 

 their prey by fixedly gazing at it is now relegated to the collec- 

 tion of other zoological fables; the apparent inabilitv oi the 

 prey to flee, is probably due to an excessive fright, which practi- 

 cally paralyzes the animal. 



FlG. 323. Crotalus atrox, the Texas rattlesnake; reduced. (After 

 Baird a nil Girard, from Shipley .mil MacBride's - 



