REPTILES AND AMPHIBIANS 49 



life; for example, in the star tortoise the original "shells" of the specimens 

 are used, while the head, neck and legs are restored in wax. The mount- 

 ing not only brings out the principal features of the species exhil)ited, hut 

 in many instances illustrates also some distinctive habit of the animals; 

 for instance, the common newt, one of the salamanders, is represented by 

 a series of five life-size casts showing the process of shedding the skin; 

 Pickering's hyla or the "spring peeper" is sho\\^l with vocal sacs inflated; 

 the poisonous bushmaster is represented with its eggs, and so on. 



The classification of these animals is showaa in the upright cases; 

 the groups in the center of the hall represent various reptiles as they 

 appear in their natural haunts. They include the tuberculated iguana, 

 the water moccasin, the diamond-backed rattlesnake, the Texas rattle- 

 snake, the copperhead, the Gila monster, the pine snake, the box tortoise 

 and the common painted turtle. 



One of the most interesting of the groups is a jungle scene in India 

 showing a water monitor, which is the largest of living lizards, the 

 poisonous Russell's viper and the deadly spectacled cobra, 

 the last with hood distended and poised ready to strike. 

 The cobra is said to be the cause of a large proportion of the 20,000 

 deaths which annually occur in India from snakebite. Examine care- 

 fully the group of the copperhead snake or "red-eye," one of the two 

 species of poisonous snakes to be found in the vicinity 



opper ea ^^ New York, and also the group contrasting the harmless 

 Snake Group . • , , . • ,. 



watersnake with the poisonous water moccasin of southern 



cypress swamps. Two groups are devoted to rattlesnakes, which are 

 easily recognized by the string of rattles at the end of the tail, by means 

 of which they give warning before they strike. There are comparatively 

 few species of poisonous snakes in the United States — about sixteen in 

 all — comprising rattlesnakes, the moccasin, copperhead and two kinds 

 of coral snake. AU other species are harmless and in spite of 

 the almost universal prejudice against them are very useful allies 

 of man, since they live chiefly on rats, mice and insects injurious 

 to crops. 



Entering the darkened room nearby we find a group of unusual in- 

 terest, showing the common bullfrog of North America. 

 Q This group is a study of the bullfrog undisturbed in its 



typical haunt. It illustrates the changes from the tadpole 

 to the adult frog and shows many of the activities of the frog — its molt- 

 ing, swimming, breathing under water and in air, croaking, and "lying 

 low" before an enemy; also its food habits in relation to small mannnals, 

 to birds, snakes, insects, snails, to small fish and turtles. 



Another group is the Great Salamander or Hellbender, best known in 



