162 



the snortest that between the huraerals. Head of moderate size ; suout 

 short and rather blunt. Edge of upper jaws convex along the sides, 

 notched in front; smooth ; the alveolar surf^ice with a low smooth ridge. 

 Lower jaw smooth or slightly denticulated. The tip curved upward. 

 Limbs well developed ; all extensively webbed ; claws of forefoot of 

 males very long and somewhat curved. Tail of moderate length. 



Color of the carapace olive, with lines and spots of yellow and black. 

 On the vertebral scutes the lines run mostly lengthwise, on the costals 

 transversely. Down the middle of each costal scute runs a yellow band 

 of varying width. Parallel with it are other lines and bands of black 

 and yellow, narrow or wide. On both the upper and the lower surfaces 

 of the marginal scutes are sutural spots consisting of concentric circles of 

 yellow and black. Between them a yellow band crosses each marginal. 

 The plastron is yellow, with a black blotch on each scute, these often 

 ocellated with yellow. The spots on the bridge usually confluent. Head 

 with numerous narrow stripes of greenish or yellow. A broad stripe 

 'starts under the eye and runs back on the neck, being met at the angle 

 of the jaw by a stripe from the middle of the lower jaw. Another stripe, 

 often blood-red, starts at the posterior corner of the eye and runs back 

 on the neck. The stripe is wanting which in C. concinna starts above 

 the eye and extends on the neck. The legs and tail are striped with 

 yellow. 



Length of the shell in large specimens about 10 inches. 



This species has been found inhabiting the territory from South Caro- 

 lina to INIexico, and north along the tributaries of the Mississippi to the 

 Yellowstone. In Indiana it has been taken at New Harmony (Samp- 

 son's coll.) ; in the Wabash River at Mt. Carmel, Ills. (L. M. Turner). 

 The species was originally described by Max Von Wied from specimens 

 taken near New Harmony. About July 1, 1892, I took a specimen in 

 the Tippecanoe River at Winamac. 



Dr. Boulenger, as above cited, regards this terrapin as only a variety 

 of C. scripta (Trachemys scabra, Ag.). However, at present it appears to 

 me that there are sufficient differences in both the young and the adults 

 of the two forms to justify their being regarded as distinct species. 

 Their geograjjhical distribution is likewise different. The specimen of 

 C. elegans reported by Dr. Yarrow (10, 33) from Oakley, S. C, is a 

 young G. scripta. 



Habits. — Quite as little is known about the manners of life of this 

 species as of most of the pther aquatic turtles. Agassiz figures the egg. 

 It is elliptical in form, an inch and a half in its long and seven-eights in 

 its short diameter. This naturalist has also observed that this turtle has 

 a voice, as he believed most turtles have. It is said to "emit a piping 

 note." Dr. J. Schneck, of Mt. Carmel, Ills., kept a young elegans for 

 more than two years, during which time it partook freely of food, but 



