Wrighi — Notes on Clemmys. 55 



stick his head in close to the withdrawn head of the female and make the 

 curious note. These observations were frequently made with these 

 turtles. 



The eggs probably hatch as a general rule in the fall, but a small wood 

 turtle taken April 20, 191;], in the water of a small stream was a newly 

 hatched form. It looked as if hatched that spring yet it may possibly 

 have been hatched very late the previous fall. This specimen has its cara- 

 pace 32 mm. long x 30 mm. broad, quite unlike the proportions of an 

 adult male, 19.2 cm. x 13.6 cm., while two intermediate specimens have 

 the following: 5.9 cm. x 5.5 cm. ; 13.5 cm. x 11 cm. In this small speci- 

 men the posterior end of plastron is a real round emargination while in 

 adults it is a straight-sided notch. In this newly hatched young, the 

 concentric rings to come are only indicated at the periphery of each plate 

 by a row of large tubercles. In the next older specimens the concentric 

 lines move in development from the circumference toward the center and 

 the radii are more prominent than the circuli. In the young specimens 

 this central area is quite rough but in adults the small depressed center 

 which is left becomes smooth. 



In the fall of the year we find these turtles from September 20-October 

 15. Then, as in the spring, they are near or actually in our streams. 

 This fall on October 1, I chanced on what I mistook for a dead wood 

 turtle in the dammed up stretch of a woodland stream, which was 4 feet 

 wide and 1 or 2 feet deep. The head was hanging perpendicularly down- 

 ward as if it were caught or held by something. Upon endeavor to move 

 it the turtle seemed very heavy and soon to my surprise it proved the 

 male of a mated pair. The head looked to be hooked between the edge of 

 the carapace and plastron of female turtle. Apparently this was not for 

 purposes of holding the female but like the action of the whistling male 

 previously recorded. The female's head looked to be retracted and the 

 male's head had followed to the withdrawn head of the female. After 

 these turtles were taken from the water the writer could not verify the 

 actual head relations nor see the actual cloacal contact. For several 

 minutes the male however maintained its grasp. With the prominent 

 fore-claws the male held on the edge of the female's carapace near the 

 suture between the first and second cephalic plates. The space between 

 these two feet was barely the width of the male's head. The hind claws 

 similarly held the next to the last pair of caudal marginals. 



Oftentimes the texts mention that the tails of male turtles are larger 

 than those of the females but the emphasis should be laid on the fact that 

 the exposed preanal part of the tails of male wood turtles as in other 

 species is twice as long as the corresponding part of the female's tail. The 

 concavity of the plastron helps to accomplish ease of mating, but this 

 elongation of the whole tail plus the pushing of the anus twice as far back 

 greatly helps in the process. 



Besides these sexual differences of structure already enumerated the 

 scales on the front parts of the limbs, particularly of the fore-legs, are 

 much more prominent in the male. The claws of the male are longer 



