Allen.] 176 [December 2, 



on the leaves and scapes of dandelion (Taraxacum dens-leonh)" ^ 

 while I have seen it eating the fruit of the common low field black- 

 berry (Rubus canadensis L.). 



2. Cistudo virginea Ag. (C. Carolina Edwards, Storer's Rep., 

 p. 214.) Box Turtle. Common. About as numerous as Glyptemys 

 iiisculpta, and, like it, is found in summer more in dry places than 

 near water. 



Mr. W. H. Niles communicates to me the interesting fact that this 

 species is the only turtle he has ever known to occur at Worthington, 

 and that this, even, is extremely rare. The elevation of Worthington 

 is about one thousand eight hundred feet above the sea, and nearly 

 as much above the Connecticut at Springfield. 



That turtles live to a great age is a well-known fact, but oppor- 

 tunities of determining their age even approximately are very rare. 

 Occasionally persons engrave their initials and the year of marking 

 upon the sternum of a specimen, and these being found after the lajjse 

 of a long interval, give us a few reliable data. A specimen of this 

 species was found near Springfield some years since that had been 

 inscribed in this way sixty years before. It was found within one 

 fourth of a mile of the place where it was maiked, and by the son of 

 the gentleman who made the inscription. The writer has known of 

 several cases of specimens being found that had been marked ten 

 years; and in each instance in or near the field where they were left 

 when marked. Hence it seems fair to infer that they do not com- 

 monly roam to very great distances. 



3. ITanemys guttata Ag. (Emt/s fjuttata Schneider, Storer's 

 Eep., p. 207.) Spotted Turtle. "Mud Turtle." Abundant. Found 

 in and near ponds, muddy ditches and sluggish streams. Fully as 

 numerous as the next ( Chrysemys picta), but the two are rarely 

 found together; each species appropriating, apparently, certain dis- 

 tricts to itself to the e.xclusion of the other. It is seldom seen 

 away from water except when about to lay its eggs, which I have 

 observed it doing during the second and third weeks of June. 



4. Chrysemys picta Gray. (Emys picta Schneider, Storer's 

 •Rep., p. 208.) Painted Turtle. " Mud Turtle." Abundant. Found 

 in the same situations as the last. The shrill piping note of this 

 species is frequently heard in May and June, especially during inter- 

 vals between showers in hot, sultry days. 



5. Ozotheca odorata Ag. {Stemotlmrus odoratus Storer's Eep., 



1 Proc. Best. Soc. Xp,t. Hist., Vol. IX, May, 1863, p. 196. 



