674 KEPTILES — CEOTALID^. 



Ckotalophoeus teegeminus Holbrook. 



Prairie Rattlesnake or IHassassanga. 



Crotalus tergeminus, Sat, Haklan,'Dumbeil and Bidron. 

 Crotalophorus Mrtlandii f, Holbrook, DbKat, Cope. 



General color varying from ash to brown, spots of dark-brown ,^. 



margined with black, and exterior to this a still lighter circle ; j-m t% 



vertebral blotches 34 in number, almost quadrate, notched in *'"^' - ' 'j 



front and behind, and extending from the neck to the tail; two i.J K {'^ 



or three series of lateral blotches on each side varying from cir- a V't. Im 



onlar to oblong ; a light line begins upon the neck and, passing ^ !^ ^ ^'* 



forwards, bifurcates, giving a branch to the upper and one to * '^'^I'i? r*' 



the lower jaw ; a, transverse line of light crosses the vertical ,iZr', ^•f^' 



plate ; a white or yellowish line begins upon the neck, runs for- ^i; '" j 



ward, bifurcates, and again nearly or quite meets in front so as to ^ ^ 



almost or quite enclose a dark blotch situated for the most part g 



npon the occipital plates ; beneath light colored to black ; dorsal 



Bcales in 25 rows ; gastrosteges 140-150 ; urosteges 25-30, the last ug%rgeminu8^ show- 

 three to five bifid ; vertical plate sub-hexagonal, sometimes di- ing cephalic region 

 vided so as to leave a small triangular one behind; labials covered with plates. 

 11-12 below, 12-14 above ; anteorbitals elongated longitudinally ; rostral irregularly 

 hexagonal. Length, 2 1-6 feet ; head, IJ inches ; tail, 2J- inches ; transverse diameter of 

 head, f inch ; of neck, i inch ; circnmference of body, 4 inches. 



Habitat, Michigan, Ohio, Illinois, Wisconsin, Kansas, Nebraska, Montana, Georgia, 

 and " Indian Territory." 



In the State I have only seen specimens from Warren county, but pre- 

 sume it occurs in all parts of Ohio. It lives in marshes, though I have 

 seen it on elevated and dry grounds. Its bite is justly dreaded by per- 

 sons compelled to frequent such places. It rarely, if ever, strikes with- 

 out warning, and never unless disturbed. 



Var. Mrtlandii, also an inhabitant of Warren county, differs from this 

 by being of a nearly uniform black with brown blotches above in the 

 adult. 



The specimen of 0. tergeminus which I have seen from Wisconsin have a 

 broader head, and the transition from head to neck is more abrupt than 

 in Illinois or Ohio specimens, while a specimen from Lenawee county, 

 Michigan, shows a head scarcely broader than the neck. It will thus be 

 seen that the shape of the head as well as the coloration varies materially 

 in this species. 



Crotalophorus miliarius Linnaeus. 

 Oround Rattlesnake. 



Crotalut miliarius, LiNN^us, Gmblin, MerreMj Schlbgbl, Haklan, Holbrook, Dum- 



BRiL and BiSaoN/ 

 Caudiaona miliariua, FitzinGer, WaGLEK. 

 Crotalophorus miliarius, Holbrook, Gray, DeKat, Baird and Girard, Coph 



