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HARD WICKE 'S SCIENCE- G OSS IF. 



Herpetology, gives no particulars as to its habits, 

 beyond the presumption that it is a terrestrial rather 

 than aquatic species. De Kay, in the Natural History 

 of New York, merely mentions the fact that it is very 

 rarely met with, 



Muhlenberg's turtle is an exceedingly dull-coloured, 

 unattractive species, having no bright points or lines 

 to relieve the uniform brown-black of its upper shell. 

 The species may be at once recognised, however, by 

 the large, usually confluent, bright orange spots on 

 the back of its neck. Nothing at all similar to these 

 spots are found on any other of our American turtles. 



Early in May, i88l, I was so fortunate as to find two 

 pairs of these rare turtles. They were found in the 

 mud of a shallow ditch in the meadow. Their move- 

 ments, when discovered, were exceedingly sluggish. 

 They made no effort to escape, and when handled 

 offered no resistance. On the contrary, each withdrew 

 its head, feet, and tail within its |shell, making a 

 scarcely audible hissing sound as it did so. 



These four specimens I kept in captivity for a short 

 time, and then placed them in the Museum of Com- 

 parative Zoology, at Cambridge, Massachusetts. 

 Before parting with them, I determined conclusively 

 that these turtles possessed well-defined vocal powers ; 

 but I have not been able to learn that in their new 

 home they ever exercised them in the hearing of 

 their custodian. To this subject I will return. 



In May, 1882, my son found a single specimen of 

 these turtles in a small swamp. It was crawling at 

 the time, on the muddy margin of a spring brook. 

 This specimen was placed in an enclosure about six 

 feet square, in which was a shallow basin filled with 

 water, sunk to the level of the ground. This basin 

 of water was at once discovered by the turtle, and 

 straightway occupied, to its evident satisfaction. In 

 the course of a few days the turtle became quite ill at 

 ease, and wandered restlessly about, anxiously looking 

 for some opening in the pen— as I thought— through 

 which it might escape. Finally, it dug a shallow hole 

 in one comer of the enclosure, and sat therein much of 

 the time. I had hopes that it would burrow deeply 

 and thus make an effort to escape, but it did not seem 

 disposed to do so, although the earth was a loose 

 sand, through which a land tortoise could have made 

 rapid progress. I therefore incline to believe that in 

 winter these turtles hibernate in the mud, beneath the 

 water of ditches or ponds, rather than bury themselves 

 in higher and drier localities. 



Ten days later, my son was fortunate enough to find 

 a pair of these turtles in the same meadow-ditch from 

 which I had taken my specimens, the preceding 

 summer. These turtles were evidently mated. They 

 certainly were very affectionate, and remained con- 

 stantly together. Here it may be well to refer to a 

 passage in Agassiz's monograph on our turtles. On 

 page 300, he remarks : " The legs "—of turtles— 

 " which, as in lizards, seem to be subservient only to 

 locomotion, perform, in addition, functions which we 



would hardly suppose in these animals. Professor 

 Jeffries Wyman had once the rare opportunity of 

 watching two painted turtles while making love, and 

 he saw the male caressing and patting the head of the 

 female with its fore feet for several minutes." 



On the 3rd of June, my son found a second pair 

 of these turtles. I had now five individuals in the 

 enclosure referred to. The small basin, which was 

 kept well filled with water, was the point of attraction 

 of their cramped surroundings. It was continually 

 occupied by three of them, as there was no room for 

 the others ; but, on the other hand, the others closely 

 watched the occupants of the basin, and promptly 

 took their places, when they ventured forth for a 

 stroll about the pen. It was a contest between the 

 "ins" and the "outs" the while; but, so far as I 

 could discover, was carried on quite good-naturedly. 

 Nothing like fighting was noticed, although I closely 

 observed them — myself unseen by them— daily, for a 

 long time. Their appreciation of the little basin of 

 water quite convinced me that these turtles are essen- 

 tially aquatic, and not a "wood tortoise," as they are 

 called in the text books. Two, probably three, of the 

 five individuals were females, but no eggs were depo- 

 sited, nor did I find any evidences of digging in the 

 enclosure, as though a desire /or ovipositing possessed 

 them. The breeding habits of Muhlenberg's turtle 

 are, I presume, essentially the same as those of the 

 rough-backed terrapin, the nearest allied species. 

 This common turtle digs a hole, some six or eight 

 inches in depth, and twice this measurement in 

 diameter. The bottom is patted down with the fore 

 feet until quite firm. In this excavation the eggs are 

 deposited, and subsequently, very neatly covered by 

 the loose earth which had been removed. In fact, 

 nearly every trace of an excavation having been made 

 is carefully removed. 



As to the whereabouts of the Muhlenberg turtles, 

 except in early summer, I am wholly "at sea." For 

 many years I never saw a specimen at any time, and 

 my experiences of the past two years cover only the 

 months of May and June. That they are not in the 

 same shallow ditches, later in the summer, wherein 

 both myself and my son found them in May, I am 

 very positive. That they are not wandering about 

 the woods, howsoever damp they may be, seems to 

 me quite improbable, I have instituted such careful 

 search for them in the very localities where, if wood- 

 haunters, they would surely be, that it is incredible 

 that any of them should have been overlooked. 

 Indeed, the five specimens captured during the past 

 summer were liberated June 15th, and placed in a 

 small brook that ran through a low-lying, densely- 

 wooded valley. Up to the present time (Aug.) no 

 trace of them has been discovered. Were damp 

 woods the summer haunts of these turtles, they would 

 certainly not have wandered far away ; and I doubt 

 their Ijeing possessed of sufficient cunning to elude 

 my eager search for them. But one other locality 



