THE REPTILIA 



315 



inflicting severe wounds. It must be fierce in order to protect 

 itself, since its shell is very small and offers little protection for 

 the body. 



The common musk turtle (Fig. 190) has a shell three or four 

 inches long, a large head, and broadly webbed feet. Like the 

 snapping turtle it is voracious and carnivorous. The disagree- 

 able odor it emits 

 when captured has 

 given it its name. 



The painted terra- 

 pin loves to sun 

 itself upon a log 

 or protruding rock, 

 from which it slides 

 off into the water 

 when disturbed. Its 

 shell, which is beau- 

 tifully colored, is 

 sometimes cleaned, 

 varnished, and used 

 as an ornament. 



The diamond-back 

 terrapin (Fig. 191) is 

 famous as an article 

 of food. It lives in 

 the salt marshes of 

 the Atlantic coast. 

 Persistent persecu- 



FIG. 193. Box tortoise. (Photo, of living 

 animal furnished by American Museum of Natural 

 History.) 



tion by market hunters has caused a great decrease in the 

 number of these animals and a corresponding increase in their 

 value. The price has risen from twenty-five cents for a large 

 specimen to seventy dollars per dozen for small ones. 



The soft-shelled turtles (Fig. 192) are thoroughly aquatic and 

 have large, strongly webbed feet. The body is flat, the neck is 

 long and very flexible, the nose terminates in a small proboscis, 



