12 CISTUDACAROLINA. 



The sternum varies quite as much as the carapace in colour; sometimes it is 

 nearly black; most commonly, however, it is yellowish, with blotches of black or 

 dusky brown. 



The head is dark brown above, and marked with yellow spots or lines; the 

 jaws are horn colour, dotted with yellow spots or traversed by yellow lines. 

 The neck above is dusky, below it is dirty yellow, with a few red or yellow spots 

 or stripes. 



The anterior extremities are dusky in front, with a few large yellow scales; 

 behind they are clouded-yellow. The posterior extremities are coloured like the 

 anterior, but have fewer yellow spots in front, and are frequently entirely yellow 

 behind. The tail is dusky above, and marked with yellow spots or stripes; beneath 

 it is clouded-yellow or reddish-brown. 



Dimensions. Length of shell, 6^ inches; breadth of shell, 4^ inches; elevation, 

 2f inches; length of sternum, 5 inches 10 lines. 



Habits. The Cistuda clausa is entirely a land animal; indeed, it is so bad a 

 swimmer, that it will drown at the end of a few days if thrown in water. In the 

 southern states they are always found in dry places, and are very numerous in 

 the immense pine forests of that country, and are hence frequently called pine 

 barren terrapin, or cooler, by the negroes — a word probably of African origin, 

 there applied to some similar animal. It feeds on insects, crickets, &c., and 

 according to Leconte, on fungous plants, as the clavaria, &c. When in confine- 

 ment, and it can be easily domesticated, it eats readily whatever is offered, as 

 bread, potatoes, apples, &lc. It may well be doubted whether they destroy mice 

 or serpents for their food, as was believed by Bosc and Henry Muhlenberg; yet it 

 is not impossible that an unwary snake or mouse might, by approaching too near 

 the animal, be accidently caught and held between the sternum and carapace, as 

 the animal will close itself upon anything that annoys it. We should not suppose, 

 however, that objects thus caught are its natural food. 



