ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



1495 



is several miles wide, and embraces great areas 

 of spectral, towering cypress that effectually 

 bars even a glimmer of sun from these impress- 

 ive and desolate low grounds. Compared with 

 the country of the river's higher course, this is 

 a different world — both in animal life and vege- 

 tation. Moreover, other changing physical con- 

 ditions attend the progress of the river to the 

 coastal regions. Running parallel with the cy- 

 press swamps are stretches of savannah or 

 water prairie, which often radiate backward into 

 regions of pale yellow sand. These sandhills also 

 stretch for miles, and are covered with scrub 

 oak, stunted pine and circular cacti. These are 

 miniature deserts in many aspects and support 

 an almost characteristic life. 



From this resume of the faunal belts tra- 

 versed by the average southern river, it is clear 

 that the coast region is rich in reptile life, and 

 ideal collecting grounds. Hence the selection of 

 this type of country the past spring, as a hunt- 

 ing ground for the restocking of our Reptile 

 House. Our collections had been much depleted 

 by the elimination of the European animal mar- 

 ket and our inability to obtain Old World rep- 

 tiles or amphibians of any kind. The writer 

 left New York on this mission on the 15th of 

 last April. He was accompanied by Keeper 

 George Palmer, of the Reptile House staff, who 

 was to act as collecting assistant. Our outfit 

 was simple, consisting of a series of shipping 

 crates, a number of stout, muslin bags, copper 

 wire for noosirig, a portable electric search- 

 light for night hunting and a medical kit, which 

 included anti-venomous serums and other appli- 

 ances necessary in treating the bites of poison- 

 ous snakes. The trip was made by coastal 

 steamer to Savannah, thence by rail to a point 

 about thirty miles inland, and adjacent to the 

 Savannah River. The writer rented an empty 

 house, stocked it with provisions, engaged a 

 cook, arranged for the use of horses and wagon 

 and we were at work within a day after arrival. 

 Specimens of the several species of water 

 snakes formed a considerable bulk of the ser- 

 pents collected, and the notes relating to the 

 habits and capture of these reptiles are among 

 the more important observations. The follow- 

 ing species and sub-species were represented 

 among the specimens sent North for exhibition: 



Banded Water Snake, Tropidonotiis fascia- 

 tus; Copper-Bellied Water Snake, Tropidono- 

 tiis f. erythrogaster; Brown Water Snake, Tro- 

 pidonotiis taxispilota; Rainbow Snake, Abastor 

 erythrogrammusj Mud Snake, Farancia aba- 

 ciira; Water Moccasin, Ancistrodon piscivoriis. 



All of these species were confined to the low 

 grounds and the adjacent swampy bays. From 

 the higher country several miles from the river, 

 to the great river swamps, there was a gradual 

 descent, invisible to the eye, except from the 

 condition of the tree trunks. The approach 

 to the low grounds is indicated by a copper- 

 colored stain upon the tree trunks that denotes 

 the rise and fall of the sjaring freshets — when 

 the river backs in. At first this stain is noted 

 to be but a few inches high. Following an ap- 

 parently level corduroy road, the stain is gradu- 

 ally observed to be as high as one's head, finally 

 tinting the trees to a height of eight or nine 

 feet. Few snakes are to be found in the denser 

 cypress swamps, owing to the lack of sun. In 

 the great river swamps proper, they occur 

 along the banks of the river itself, where the 

 sun strikes in among the fantastically gnarled 

 cypress roots and fallen, derelict timber. Here 

 are innumerable possibilities of escape from dan- 

 ger and representatives of all the species sur- 

 vive to attain an immense size, but are exceed- 

 ingly wary and difficult to capture. They bask 

 on fallen timber or on heavy branches closely 

 overhanging the water, into which they plunge 

 at the slightest alarm and dive to the bottom. 



Specimens of the banded water snake and 

 the brown water snake, both non-venomous 

 species, were particularly abundant at the 

 water edge of the great river swamps. The 

 brilliant copper-bellied water snake, a sub- 

 species of the first mentioned reptile, appears to 

 evince marked preference for narrow and reedy 

 water-ways inland from the cypress stretches 

 and away from any but sparse timber. Here 

 the sun strikes in, generally over large areas of 

 varying stretches of water and pickerel-weed, 

 while the dams of ancient rice ditches, over- 

 grown with tangled bushes, stretch for miles. 

 The large and very dangerous water moccasin, 

 or cotton-mouth snake, selects the same ground. 

 Few of these snakes were seen in the denser 

 river swamps, but large numbers of huge and 

 savage individuals were seen along reedy cause- 

 ways of a bare yard's width of water. 



The spring freshets fill numerous pools and 

 miniature lakes for several miles back from the 

 river and as the water recedes, the pools, teem- 

 ing with fish, offer ideal feeding grounds for the 

 snakes. As summer advances, the pools dry up 

 and a great number of the water snakes, particu- 

 larly the banded and brown water snakes, fol- 

 low the receding water. This, however, does 

 not seem to be the case with the poisonous moc- 

 casin, which, unlike its harmless allies, varies 

 its food to birds and small mammals. The cop- 



