COUES AND YARROW ON HERPETOLOGY. 269 



handkerchief is fastened to the end of a pole, which is held toward the 

 reptile, which strikes fiercely at it, the fangs and teeth become engaged 

 in the fibre of the silk, and a dexterous movement of the stick readily 

 pulls out the fangs, and the reptile can be approached with safety. 



There seems to be a special and peculiar enmity existing between the 

 Kattlesnake and Moccasin and the Blacksnake {Bascanium) and " King 

 Snake" {Ophibolus getulus sayi)] these two latter species waging a 

 constant warfare against the former, and invariably conquering, accord- 

 ing to ioformation received from reliable parties. After the conflict, the 

 vanquished is eaten by the victor. In one case reported, a large Black - 

 snake [Bascanium constrictor) had seized a Rattlesnake (Grotalus ada- 

 manteus), and entwined two or more folds behind his head and several 

 six or eight inches farther back 5 then by muscular gffort had torn the 

 body. It is a well-known fact that both Rattlesnakes and Moccasins 

 will endeavor to get away from the "King Snake" [Ophibolus getulus 

 sayi)', and in the South this beautiful and harmless species is protected 

 in view of this fact. 



Genus CAUDISONA. Laur. 



Oaudisona tergemina. [Say) Cope. 



The Massasauga, or Prairie BattlesnaJce. 



Grotalus tergeminus, Say, Long's Exped. R. Mts. i. 1823, 499. — Harlan, Jour. Acad. 



Nat. Sci. Phila. 1827, 372.— Cope, Mitchell's Researches, App. 1861, 125.— 



Hayd. Trans. Amer. Phil. Soc. xii. 1862, 177 (Yellowstone). 

 Crotalophorus tergeminus, Gray, Synop. Rept. 78 ; Cat. Rept. Br. Mus. 18. — Holbr. N. 



Am. Herpet. 2d ed. iii. 1842, 29, pi. 5.— DeKay, N. Y. Fn. iii. 1842, 57.— Bd. 



& GiR. Cat. N. A. Rept. 1853, 14.— Bd. P. R. R. Rep. x. 1851, pi. 25, f. 9 



(no text). 

 Caudisona tergemina, Cope, Check List N. A. Bat. and Rep. 1875, 34. 

 Crotalophorus , Agass. L. Superior, 1850, 381, pi. 6, f. 6, 7, 8. 



Var? [BlacJc Massasauga.) 



Crotalophorus Mrtlandii, Holbr. N. Am. Herpet. 2d ed. iii. 1842, 31, pi. 6. — Gray, Cat. 



Br. Mus. 18.— Bd. & GiR. Cat. N. A. Rept. 1853, 16.— Bd. P. R. R. Rep. x. 



1859, pi. 251, f. 11, 11 Us (no text). 

 Crotalophorus massasauga, Kirtl. apud Bd. Serpents N. Y. 11, pi. 1, f. 2. 



This species is distributed in prairie countries from Ohio and Michigan 

 westward, finding its most western limit in the region of the Yellow- 

 stone. It is readily distinguished from any species of Grotalus by the 

 presence of few (9) large symmetrical plates on the head, as in serpents 

 generally, instead of numerous small scales, like those on the body. 

 The rattle is much smaller than in Grotalus. The size varies from one to 

 three feet. The ground-color above is brown, marked with blotches of 

 deep chestnut-brown, blackish on the periphery, and margined with 

 yellowish-white. 



