Hurter — Herpetology of Missouri. ^37 



Color. — Color above greenish olive with narrow yellowish lines fol- 

 lowing the sutures. Some of the shields are traversed by vein-like 

 lines of the same color. Marginals above with about three transverse 

 lines, the median of which reaches the inner margin of plate and some- 

 times joins a yellow band along the outer margin. Marginals beneath 

 with a broad band traversed by yellowish stripes. Within the fields 

 formed by these stripes are dark circular spots with a yellowish cen- 

 ter. The connection between the plastron and marginals has three, 

 sometimes interrupted, yellowish red stripes. The plastron is red 

 with the central region occupied by a large blackish lyriform blotch, 

 which is marbled by pale yellow and sends rays out along the sutures. 

 Head and legs are striped with red. A yellowish stripe from below 

 the nostril in front to the end of the jaw. Two other lines of the 

 same color join at the nose, run to and through the orbit, and end 

 above and below the tympanum. Three other yellowish red stripes, one 

 starting at near the corner of the mouth, the other through the tym- 

 panum and the third on the occiput, run parallel along the neck to the 

 body. A yellowish stripe starts at the symphysis of the lower jaw, be- 

 hind which it bifurcates and with another one in the middle of that 

 space runs back on the lower side of the neck to the body. Besides this 

 the whole head and neck are marked with a number of very narrow 

 yellowish parallel lines. On the front side of the fore legs are four 

 reddish stripes, one on each side and two in the middle, which reach 

 to the end of the fingers. Webs largely pale yellow. On the posterior 

 side of the hind legs are two reddish yellow bands, which start from 

 the body, running nearly parallel and converging at the tail, from 

 where they run out in a single stripe on the lower end of the tail to its 

 tip. On each side of the upper side of the tail are also two of these 

 stripes, which join and run out to the end of this member. 



Size. — Length of carapace 160 mm.; width of same 116 mm.; depth 

 of shell 63 mm. Length of plastron 150 mm. 



Habitat. — From Minnesota to the Kocky Mountains, 

 south to Texas. Common on both sides of the Mississippi 

 Eiver in the neighborhood of St. Louis. Missouri locali- 

 ties: — St. Louis, St. Charles, Montgomery and Pettis 

 Counties. Illinois localities: — Randolph, Monroe, St. 

 Clair, Madison, and Adams Counties. 



Mr. G. Stolley, who collected a number of these turtles 

 in the Osage Eiver, and Dr. George Engelmann, of St. 

 Louis, sent Professor Agassiz the material which he de- 

 scribed in his Contributions to the Natural History of the 

 United States, Vol 1, 1857. 



Habits. — Bell's Turtle is common in the neighborhood 



