68 FAMILIAR LIFE IN FIELD AND POEEST. 



about eleven hundred vibrations to a minute, instead 

 of two hundred and eighty-eight as in the case of the 

 grasshopper.* ,^3 Because a serpent may 



possess half a ^ff^^^tT ~ ^o^®^ sections to his 



rattle it by no 



means indicates that he 



is six years old. More than one section may be added 

 in a year's time, and frequently one is broken off by 

 accident. 



The copperhead {Ancistrodon cvn tortrix). Length, 

 thirty-six inches ; light rusty brown above, with 

 darker blotches and a coppery cast to the head; 

 /^-shaped brown marks on sides ; yellowish beneath ; 

 fangs like the rattlesnake's. An extremely rare but 

 dangerous reptile, with a pointed, horny tail but with 

 no warning rattle. 



The familiar members of the non-poisonous family 

 CiiJiibridm are as follows : 



The ground snake {Carphophiops arrwenus). 

 Length, twelve inches ; opalescent color ; chestnut 

 brown above, salmon beneath ; head very small, not 

 wider than the neck ; thirteen dorsal rows ; f found 



* In the American Naturalist for March, 1893, somebody 

 gives the vibrations of the rattle a tempo of one hundred and 

 ten per minute. This is a great error, which may be proved 

 at once by setting the metronome at one hundred and twelve 

 — adagio. 



f By this I mean that the scales on the back are arranged in 

 thirteen rows. 



