187 



Cistuda ornata, (Ag.). 

 Ornate Box-tortoise. 



Oistiido ornata, Agassiz, 1857, 4^, i, 445, i^l. iii, figs. 12 and 13 ;. 

 Boulenger, 1889, 84, 118. 



This species of the genus Cistvxla occurs abundantly west of the 

 Missouri River, being, as reported by F. W. Cragin, " so abundant in 

 some sections of Southern Kansas that it amounts to a nuisance as a 

 cumberer of the ground." (4^, 100.) The species, however, ranges 

 further east into Illinois, and some years ago specimens were sent to the 

 National Museum from Fairfield, Wayne County, Illinois, within 35 

 miles of the Wabash River (^10, 37), hence its occurence within Indiana 

 territory may be discovered at any time. 



The shell of ornata is proportionally shorter and broader than that of 

 Carolina. The back is also flatter, especially along the middle line, and 

 there is no trace of a keel, even in the young. The plastron does not 

 completely close the shell, and there is a short but distinct bridge. The 

 head is larger, the snout shorter, and the upper jaw is notched in front. 

 The shell is more elegantly marked than in Carolina, the ground color 

 being olive-brown to black, while there are numerous spots and streaks 

 of bright yellow. The yellow markings usually seem to radiate from 

 the center from which each scute began to grow. 



