NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL PARK. 161 



COPPERHEAD SNAKE. 



Venomous Reptiles. Because of the number of species 

 of rattlesnakes which have found lodgment in the United 

 States, and the trouble they have caused in a few localities, 

 we are specially interested in all serpents which are danger- 

 ous to man. The species named below represent the deadly 

 genera which civilized man has most cause to fear. 



The Diamond-Back Rattlesnake, (Crotalus adamant eus), is 

 too handsome, too showy, and too large to be chosen as the 

 best average type of the genus Crotalus; but he is king of 

 his kind, and cannot be ignored. Three species shown side 

 by side in our Reptile House afford striking examples of 

 protective coloration. The Diamond-Back Rattler of Florida 

 and the South is yellow, brown, and black, to match the 

 checkers of sunbeam and shadow that fall upon the sands 

 under the palmetto leaves. 



The most vicious snake in North America, and one of 

 the ugliest in appearance, is the Water Moccasin, (Ancis- 

 trodon piscivorus), closely related to the beautiful Copper- 

 head, (A. contortrir}. It is more dreaded in the South than 

 the rattler, because it strikes on the slightest provocation, 

 and without the rattler's timely warning. Its colors are 

 dull, its scales rough, its body ill-shaped and clumsy, its 

 temper is vicious, and for every reason it is a serpent to be 

 disliked. 



