﻿364 
  BABCOCK: 
  NEW 
  ENGLAND 
  TURia^ES. 
  

  

  Geographic 
  Distribution. 
  — 
  The 
  range 
  of 
  this 
  turtle 
  is 
  considered 
  to 
  extend 
  from 
  New 
  

   York, 
  south 
  to 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Mexico, 
  (exclusive 
  of 
  the 
  peninsula 
  of 
  Florida) 
  and 
  west 
  to 
  the 
  

   Mississippi 
  Valley. 
  

  

  New 
  England 
  Records. 
  — 
  As 
  will 
  be 
  noted, 
  the 
  range 
  given 
  extends 
  as 
  far 
  north 
  as 
  New 
  

   England, 
  but 
  does 
  not 
  enter 
  it. 
  The 
  turtle 
  has 
  been 
  reported 
  from 
  Long 
  Island, 
  however 
  

   (Murphy, 
  1916), 
  and 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  unreasonable 
  to 
  assume 
  that 
  occasional 
  individuals, 
  at 
  least, 
  

   occur 
  in 
  southern 
  Connecticut. 
  Mr. 
  E. 
  F. 
  Bigelow 
  of 
  Sound 
  Beach, 
  Connecticut, 
  writes 
  me 
  

   that 
  he 
  thinks 
  he 
  has 
  seen 
  it 
  in 
  that 
  vicinity. 
  Stejneger 
  and 
  Dickerson 
  report, 
  however, 
  that 
  

   no 
  New 
  England 
  records 
  as 
  yet 
  exist 
  in 
  the 
  collections 
  of 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  National 
  Museum 
  

   or 
  American 
  Museum 
  of 
  Natural 
  History. 
  No 
  New 
  England 
  records 
  exist 
  at 
  the 
  Boston 
  

   Society 
  of 
  Natural 
  History 
  nor 
  at 
  the 
  Museum 
  of 
  Comparative 
  Zoology 
  at 
  Cambridge. 
  

   Linsley 
  (1843), 
  however, 
  reports 
  one 
  specimen 
  taken 
  by 
  himself 
  at 
  Stratford, 
  Conn., 
  on 
  

   Nov. 
  13, 
  1843, 
  and 
  says: 
  "probably 
  never 
  before 
  found 
  in 
  New 
  England." 
  He 
  adds: 
  "This 
  

   is 
  the 
  Testudo 
  Pennsylvanica, 
  of 
  Edwards, 
  the 
  Cistuda 
  Pennsylvanica, 
  of 
  Say, 
  the 
  Emys 
  

   Pcnnsylvanica, 
  of 
  Harlan, 
  and 
  the 
  Kinosternon 
  Pennsylvanicum, 
  of 
  Holbrook 
  and 
  Dekay. 
  

   Shell, 
  length 
  4 
  inches, 
  width 
  2.6, 
  depth 
  1.5 
  inches. 
  It 
  is 
  narrower 
  in 
  proportion 
  to 
  its 
  length, 
  

   than 
  any 
  of 
  our 
  tortoises, 
  except 
  Sphargis 
  coriacea. 
  The 
  posterior 
  portion 
  of 
  the 
  shell 
  being 
  

   almost 
  perpendicularly 
  elevated, 
  constitutes 
  a 
  very 
  distinguishing 
  feature 
  of 
  this 
  animal, 
  

   and 
  will 
  prevent 
  its 
  being 
  taken 
  for 
  any 
  other 
  species. 
  It 
  is 
  however 
  the 
  most 
  nearly 
  allied 
  

   to 
  the 
  Sternothoerus 
  odoratus." 
  This 
  species 
  has 
  been 
  reported 
  as 
  occurring 
  in 
  Massachusetts, 
  

   "by 
  Hitchcock 
  ^ 
  in 
  1833, 
  but 
  the 
  record 
  was 
  later 
  questioned 
  by 
  Holbrook.^ 
  In 
  spite 
  of 
  its 
  

   doubtful 
  occurrence, 
  I 
  have 
  included 
  it 
  in 
  the 
  Chelonian 
  fauna 
  of 
  New 
  England. 
  

  

  Environment. 
  — 
  These 
  turtles 
  inhabit 
  muddy 
  bottoms 
  of 
  ponds 
  and 
  streams, 
  although 
  

   they 
  are 
  not 
  as 
  strictly 
  aquatic 
  as 
  the 
  closely 
  related 
  Musk 
  Turtle. 
  They 
  also 
  have 
  been 
  

   observed 
  to 
  inhabit 
  brackish 
  marshes. 
  

  

  Numbers. 
  — 
  This 
  species 
  is 
  considered 
  not 
  as 
  common 
  anywhere 
  within 
  its 
  range 
  as 
  the 
  

   preceding. 
  

  

  Breeding 
  Habits. 
  — 
  It 
  lays 
  from 
  three 
  to 
  five 
  eggs 
  not 
  far 
  from 
  the 
  water's 
  edge 
  in 
  the 
  

   manner 
  customary 
  among 
  turtles. 
  Wright 
  has 
  described 
  a 
  nest 
  in 
  rotten 
  wood 
  by 
  the 
  side 
  

   of 
  a 
  dead 
  log, 
  the 
  eggs 
  (three) 
  being 
  deposited 
  at 
  a 
  depth 
  of 
  three 
  inches. 
  The 
  eggs 
  have 
  " 
  the 
  

   form 
  of 
  a 
  rather 
  elongated 
  ellipse, 
  with 
  very 
  blunt 
  ends." 
  The 
  shell 
  membrane, 
  which 
  is 
  

   smooth 
  and 
  glazed, 
  is, 
  according 
  to 
  Agassiz 
  (1857, 
  vol. 
  2, 
  p. 
  507), 
  two-thirds 
  as 
  thick 
  as 
  in 
  

   the 
  Chelydra 
  serpentina, 
  and 
  is 
  brittle. 
  He 
  reports 
  that 
  a 
  female 
  kept 
  in 
  confinement 
  "did 
  not 
  

  

  ' 
  Hitchcock, 
  Edward. 
  Report 
  on 
  the 
  Geology, 
  Mineralogy, 
  Botany, 
  and 
  Zoology 
  of 
  Massachusetts, 
  1833, 
  p. 
  552. 
  

   He 
  lists 
  it 
  here 
  as 
  "Pennsylvanica." 
  In 
  1835, 
  in 
  a 
  later 
  edition 
  under 
  Catalogues 
  of 
  the 
  Animals 
  and 
  Plants 
  of 
  Massachu- 
  

   setts, 
  p. 
  14, 
  he 
  lists 
  it 
  as 
  "Pennsylvanica, 
  Box 
  Turtle." 
  

  

  '^Holbrook, 
  J. 
  E. 
  North 
  American 
  Herpetology, 
  1842. 
  He 
  says 
  it 
  extends 
  only 
  "to 
  lat. 
  41 
  degrees," 
  and 
  thinks 
  

   Hitchcock 
  mistook 
  K. 
  odoratum 
  for 
  it. 
  

  

  