﻿360 
  BABCOCK: 
  NEW 
  ENGLAND 
  TURTLES. 
  

  

  Geographic 
  Distribution. 
  — 
  This 
  turtle 
  has 
  a 
  wide 
  range 
  in 
  the 
  eastern 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  

   States, 
  extending 
  from 
  southern 
  Canada 
  to 
  Florida, 
  and 
  westward 
  to 
  Missouri 
  and 
  Texas. 
  

   It 
  has 
  been 
  recorded 
  from 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  England 
  States. 
  In 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  Boston 
  

   Society 
  of 
  Natural 
  History 
  are 
  three 
  specimens 
  from 
  the 
  \'icinity 
  of 
  Augusta, 
  Maine; 
  two 
  from 
  

   Ipswich, 
  Massachusetts; 
  and 
  a 
  shell 
  from 
  Dedham, 
  Massachusetts. 
  

  

  Habitat. 
  — 
  These 
  turtles 
  inhabit 
  ponds 
  and 
  slow 
  running 
  streams 
  with 
  muddy 
  bottoms. 
  

  

  Numbers. 
  — 
  They 
  are 
  considered 
  generally 
  abundant 
  throughout 
  their 
  range, 
  but 
  are 
  not 
  

   frequently 
  observed 
  owing 
  to 
  their 
  strictly 
  aquatic 
  habits. 
  

  

  Breeding 
  Habits. 
  — 
  In 
  this 
  region 
  the 
  female 
  deposits 
  her 
  eggs 
  in 
  June 
  — 
  three, 
  five, 
  or 
  

   sometimes 
  seven, 
  in 
  number. 
  They 
  are 
  elUptical 
  (nearly 
  twice 
  as 
  long 
  as 
  thick) 
  ^\dth 
  blunt 
  

   ends 
  and 
  have 
  a 
  very 
  smooth 
  glazed 
  siirface. 
  The 
  shell 
  is 
  thick 
  but 
  brittle. 
  

  

  I 
  have 
  never 
  observed 
  one 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  in 
  the 
  act 
  of 
  laying. 
  Agassiz 
  (1857, 
  vol. 
  2, 
  p. 
  500) 
  

   says 
  he 
  has 
  seen 
  it 
  "laying 
  but 
  once, 
  namely, 
  at 
  half-past 
  eight 
  in 
  the 
  evening." 
  The 
  follow- 
  

   ing 
  is 
  an 
  account 
  of 
  their 
  egg-laj4ng 
  habits 
  at 
  Turkey 
  Lake, 
  Indiana: 
  "The 
  eggs 
  are 
  laid 
  in 
  

   the 
  rotten 
  wood 
  in 
  the 
  tops 
  of 
  stumps 
  standing 
  in 
  the 
  margin 
  of 
  the 
  lake. 
  The 
  turtles 
  were 
  

   frequently 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  tops 
  of 
  these 
  stumps, 
  and 
  ome 
  of 
  their 
  eggs 
  wedged 
  as 
  far 
  into 
  the 
  

   rotten 
  wood 
  as 
  the 
  finger 
  could 
  bore. 
  Rotten 
  logs 
  removed 
  some 
  distance 
  from 
  the 
  water 
  are 
  

   also 
  favorable 
  places 
  for 
  egg-laying, 
  and 
  in 
  a 
  mucky 
  place 
  of 
  small 
  area 
  at 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  the 
  lake, 
  

  

  362 
  eggs 
  were 
  taken 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  While 
  passing 
  along 
  a 
  wheat 
  field 
  some 
  turtles 
  were 
  seen 
  

  

  coming 
  from 
  it, 
  and 
  on 
  inspection 
  it 
  was 
  found 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  deposited 
  their 
  eggs 
  in 
  the 
  ground 
  

   in 
  depressions 
  made 
  by 
  a 
  cow 
  while 
  walking 
  over 
  the 
  ground 
  when 
  it 
  was 
  soft. 
  Still 
  other 
  

   eggs 
  were 
  found 
  in 
  bundles 
  of 
  rushes 
  drifted 
  together. 
  

  

  "An 
  interesting 
  change 
  of 
  habit 
  seems 
  to 
  have 
  taken 
  place 
  among 
  these 
  turtles 
  during 
  the 
  

   past 
  fifty 
  years. 
  Before 
  that 
  time 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  stumps 
  standing 
  in 
  the 
  margin 
  of 
  the 
  lake 
  

   must 
  have 
  been 
  exceedingly 
  small. 
  The 
  present 
  large 
  number 
  is 
  due 
  to 
  the 
  rising 
  of 
  the 
  lake 
  

   after 
  the 
  building 
  of 
  the 
  dam 
  and 
  the 
  subsequent 
  cutting 
  down 
  of 
  the 
  trees 
  whose 
  boles 
  had 
  

   become 
  submerged. 
  The 
  habit 
  of 
  laying 
  eggs 
  in 
  stumps 
  cannot 
  be 
  of 
  much 
  more 
  than 
  fifty 
  

   years' 
  duration" 
  (Eigenmann, 
  1896, 
  p. 
  263). 
  

  

  The 
  young 
  when 
  newly 
  hatched, 
  are 
  one-half 
  inch 
  long 
  (length 
  of 
  carapace, 
  which 
  is 
  soft 
  

   and 
  pliable). 
  

  

  Habits. 
  — 
  This 
  animal 
  is 
  strictly 
  aquatic 
  in 
  its 
  habits, 
  seldom, 
  if 
  ever, 
  lea^dng 
  the 
  water, 
  

   except 
  to 
  deposit 
  its 
  eggs; 
  hence, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  commonly 
  known. 
  Its 
  time 
  is 
  spent 
  prowhng 
  about 
  

   on 
  the 
  muddy 
  bottom 
  of 
  ponds 
  and 
  streams 
  in 
  search 
  of 
  its 
  food, 
  or 
  basking 
  in 
  the 
  sun 
  in 
  shallow 
  

   water. 
  Its 
  disposition 
  is 
  pugnacious 
  and 
  \acious, 
  somewhat 
  resembling 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  Snapping 
  

   Turtle. 
  It 
  differs 
  from 
  the 
  latter, 
  however, 
  in 
  its 
  method 
  of 
  snapping, 
  for 
  instead 
  of 
  quickly 
  

   throwing 
  out 
  the 
  head 
  with 
  a 
  force 
  that 
  brings 
  the 
  whole 
  body 
  into 
  play, 
  it 
  slowly 
  stretches 
  

   out 
  its 
  neck 
  toward 
  the 
  object 
  before 
  snapping. 
  The 
  males 
  are 
  said 
  to 
  produce 
  " 
  stridulating 
  

  

  