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The copperhead is of a bronze hazel or hght reddish brown above, with a series of 

 transverse, dark brown bands which enlarge on the flanks into blotches. The lower 

 surface is of a flesh color and spotted, as is much of the back, with minute dots of 

 dark brown. Along each flank is a row of dark spots alternating with and between 

 the bifurcations of the dorsal bands. There is a loreal plate, and the scales are dis- 



FlG. 228. — Ancistrodou plscivojiis, water-moccasin. 



posed in twenty-three rows. These last characters at once separate the present forni 

 from the succeeding, which has no loreal, .and the scales arranged in twenty-five rows. 

 The water-moccasin, A. piscivorus, is an animal dreaded by the travelers of the 

 south even more than is the rattle-snake. While the latter only takes the defensive 

 on being irritated, and ordinarily makes its presence known by sounding its alarm, the 



