THE REPTILES OF THE VICIinTY OF NEW YORK CITY.i 



By Raymond L. Ditmars, 

 Curator of Reptiles, New York Zoological Park. 



Introduction. 



In compiling this guide for the identification of the local 

 reptiles, the writer has endeavored to present the subject in a 

 simple and concise manner, avoiding technicalities as far as 

 possible. The usual descriptions of reptiles concern arrange- 

 ments of the scales upon the head and certain other physical 

 characteristics that are necessarily associated with technical 

 terms, but the keys for identifications and descriptions of the 

 species in the present work appeal principally to the coloration 

 and form of the reptiles. With but a limited number of species 

 to consider, this plan seems appropriate, since it greatly sim- 

 plifies the subject. 



The reptiles described are those which have been found 

 within a radius of about fifty miles of New York City. Within 

 this section 28 species are represented. Of these species 14 are 

 serpents, 2 are lizards and 12 are turtles. Thus our local fauna 

 may be said to be quite rich in reptile life. In fact, it is within 

 the limits of the area described that certain species of snakes 

 (the Garter Snake, Thamnophis sirtalis, and the Brown Snake, 

 Storeria dekayi) abound to such an extent that hundreds of 

 specimens are annually killed and captured without apparent 

 decrease in their numbers.. 



There are but two local species of poisonous snakes, the 

 Banded Rattlesnake and the Copperhead. In certain districts 

 both are fairly abundant, but may be hardly called a menace to 

 mankind, as one is shy and retiring in habits, while the other 



' Reprinted from The American Museum Journal, Vol. V, No. 3, July, 1905. 



93 



