674. : REPTILES—CROTALIDA. 
CROTALOPHORUS TERGEMINUS Holbrook. 
Prairie Rattlesmake or Massussauga. 
Crotalus tergeminus, SAY, HARLAN, DUMERIL and BIBRON. 
Crotalophorus kirtlandti?, HOLBROOK, DEKay, COPE. 
General color varying from ash to brown, spots of dark-brown 
margined with black, and exterior to this a still lighter circle; 
vertebral blotches 34 in number, almost quadrate, notched in 
front and behind, and extending from the neck to the tail; two 
or three geries of lateral blotches on eack side varying from cir- 
cular to oblong; a light line begins upon the neck and, passing 
forwards, bifurcates, giving a branch to the upper and one to 
the lower jaw; a transverse line of light crosses the vertical 
plate ; a white or yellowish line begins upon the neck, runs for- 
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 | i 
upon the occipital plates; beneath light colored to black; dorsal mn 
so bye y f Sa ik ae tha ince LIG. 2.—Crotolophor- 
scales in 25 rows ; gastrosteges 140-150; urosteges 25-30, the last us tergeminus, show- 
three to five bifid; vertical plate sub-hexagonal, sometimes di- ing cephalic region 
vided so as to leave a small triangular one behind; labialg Covered with plates. 
11-12 below, 12-14 above; anteorbitals elongated longitudinally ; rostral irregularly 
Length, 21-6 feet; head, 14 inches; tail, 22 inches; transverse diameter of 
a 
hexagonal. 
head, 2 inch; of neck, 4 inch; circumference cf bedy, 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 occursin 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. kirtlandu, also an inhabitant of Warren county, differs from this 
by being of a nearly uniform black with brown bletches above in the 
adult. 
The specimen of C. tergeminus which I have scen 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 wiil thus be: 
seen that the shape of the head as well asthe coloration varies materially 
in this species. 4 
CROTALOPHORUS MILIARIUS Linneeus. 
Ground Rattlesmake. 
Cyotalus miliarius, LINNZUS, GMELIN, MERREM, SCHL! GEL, HARLAN, Herprook, Duxs- 
BRIL and BiBROR: 
Caudisona miliarius, FITZINGER, W AGLE, 
Crotalophorus miliarius, HOLBROOK, Gray, DeKay, Barrp and Grrarp, Coke 
