VIPERINE GROUP. 



2 45 



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

 is Central Asia. 

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



snake. distributed members of the genus is the copper-head, 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 inferiorly and 

 with a heavy 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 



COPPER-HEAD, OB MOCCASIN -SNAKE (| nat. size). 



ground-colour 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 

 moccasin-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 coloured 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 

 copper-head extends from the 45th parallel of north latitude to the extreme 

 south of the Eastern United States. Its favourite haunts are damp situations, 

 more especially shady meadows covered with tall grass ; and its food consists of 

 mice, birds, and probably frogs. From its abundance and comparatively rapid 

 movements, as well as from its lacking the warning sound of the rattle, the copper- 

 head is even more dreaded than the rattle-snake. 



