Hay — Batrachians and Reptiles of D. C. 145 



56. Terrapene Carolina (Linn.)- Box Turtle. 



Shell broadly oval, high and very convex, heavy and solid; posterior 

 portion of carapace with a well-defined keel in the young, this more or 

 less evident in the adults; plastron large, tightly closing the opening of 

 the carapace, consisting of two lobes movable by hinges on each other 

 and the carapace; upper jaw with a median hook but no notch, alveolar 

 surface narrow; limbs and feet scaly; tail short. The colors of the cara- 

 pace are yellow and brown or black, variously arranged and with some- 

 times one and sometimes the other color predominating; the young have 

 a single yellow spot on each scute; plastron with black and yellow; head, 

 neck, limbs, and tail black, with yellow spots. Iris of males red, 

 and the skin of the neck and legs more or less suffused with orange. 

 Length, about 5 inches. 



Abundant in the woods everywhere about the city. On a single short 

 walk in the early morning I have found 8 or 10 of this species. 



