﻿INTRODUCTION. 
  

  

  In 
  1857, 
  Agassiz 
  wrote: 
  "To 
  tell 
  American 
  students 
  that 
  little 
  is 
  known 
  of 
  the 
  habits 
  

   of 
  Turtles, 
  the 
  laying 
  of 
  their 
  eggs, 
  the 
  growth 
  of 
  their 
  young, 
  etc., 
  would 
  perhaps 
  excite 
  a 
  

   smile 
  in 
  those 
  who, 
  as 
  boys, 
  have 
  been 
  in 
  the 
  habit 
  of 
  collecting 
  Turtles' 
  eggs, 
  egg-hunting 
  

   being 
  an 
  occupation 
  of 
  which 
  boys 
  are 
  fond 
  all 
  the 
  world 
  over. 
  Yet 
  so 
  it 
  is 
  : 
  what 
  every 
  inhabi- 
  

   tant 
  of 
  the 
  country 
  may 
  have 
  seen 
  again 
  and 
  again 
  has 
  not 
  yet 
  been 
  collected 
  in 
  scientific 
  

   works." 
  The 
  same 
  conditions, 
  although 
  to 
  a 
  far 
  less 
  extent, 
  still 
  exist, 
  and 
  my 
  aim 
  in 
  the 
  

   present 
  monograph 
  has 
  been 
  to 
  collect 
  and 
  classify 
  what 
  is 
  known 
  today 
  of 
  the 
  hfe 
  histories 
  

   of 
  New 
  England 
  Chelonians. 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Samuel 
  Henshaw, 
  in 
  1904, 
  prepared 
  for 
  the 
  Boston 
  Society 
  of 
  Natural 
  History 
  a 
  

   list 
  of 
  the 
  ReptiUa 
  of 
  New 
  England 
  in 
  which 
  he 
  recognized 
  thirteen 
  species 
  of 
  turtles. 
  To 
  

   that 
  list 
  I 
  have 
  here 
  added 
  four 
  more: 
  (1) 
  Muhlenberg's 
  Turtle, 
  Clemmys 
  muhlenbergii 
  

   (Schoepff) 
  ; 
  (2) 
  the 
  Red-belUed 
  Terrapin, 
  Pseudemys 
  ruhriventris 
  (Le 
  Conte) 
  ; 
  (3) 
  the 
  Hawks- 
  

   bill 
  Turtle, 
  Eretmochelys 
  imbricata 
  (Linne) 
  ; 
  and 
  (4) 
  the 
  Mud 
  Turtle 
  or 
  Box 
  Terrapin, 
  Kino- 
  

   sternon 
  suhrubrum 
  (Lac^pede) 
  ; 
  making 
  a 
  total 
  of 
  seventeen 
  species 
  for 
  New 
  England. 
  Caretta 
  

   kempii, 
  the 
  so-called 
  Bastard 
  Turtle 
  of 
  Garman, 
  whose 
  range 
  is 
  given 
  in 
  Stejneger 
  and 
  Barbour's 
  

   Check 
  List 
  of 
  North 
  American 
  Amphibians 
  and 
  Reptiles 
  (1917, 
  p. 
  123) 
  as 
  extending 
  "acciden- 
  

   tally 
  to 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Massachusetts," 
  is 
  not 
  included 
  in 
  this 
  monograph; 
  neither 
  is 
  Chrysemys 
  

   marginata, 
  reported 
  by 
  Bumpus 
  from 
  Middleboro, 
  Mass. 
  

  

  Three 
  specimens 
  of 
  Clemmys 
  muhlenbergii 
  were 
  collected 
  by 
  Alexander 
  Agassiz 
  at 
  Newport, 
  

   R. 
  I., 
  and 
  presented 
  on 
  September 
  23, 
  1902, 
  to 
  the 
  Museum 
  of 
  Comparative 
  Zoology 
  at 
  Cam- 
  

   bridge, 
  where 
  they 
  now 
  are. 
  This 
  record 
  has 
  never 
  before 
  been 
  published. 
  While 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  

   that 
  these 
  were 
  escaped 
  caged 
  animals, 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  at 
  all 
  likely. 
  This 
  turtle 
  is 
  not 
  generally 
  abun- 
  

   dant 
  throughout 
  its 
  range 
  and 
  often 
  occurs 
  locally 
  as 
  in 
  this 
  instance. 
  Pseudemys 
  rubriventris 
  

   occurs 
  in 
  certain 
  fresh-water 
  ponds 
  in 
  Plymouth 
  County, 
  Massachusetts, 
  where 
  it 
  seems 
  to 
  

   remain 
  isolated. 
  This 
  record 
  I 
  reported 
  (Babcock, 
  1916a) 
  in 
  Copeia, 
  in 
  December, 
  1916. 
  Eret- 
  

   mochelys 
  imbricata 
  was 
  reported 
  from 
  Woods 
  Hole, 
  Massachusetts, 
  in 
  1909, 
  by 
  F. 
  B. 
  Sumner 
  

   (1909). 
  Kinosternon 
  suhrubrum 
  is 
  of 
  doubtful 
  occurrence 
  in 
  New 
  England, 
  although 
  it 
  should 
  

   be 
  found 
  in 
  the 
  southern 
  part. 
  Hitchcock 
  (1833) 
  includes 
  it 
  in 
  his 
  Catalogue 
  of 
  Reptiles 
  

   of 
  Massachusetts. 
  This 
  record 
  is 
  questioned 
  by 
  Holbrook 
  (1842, 
  vol. 
  1) 
  who 
  thinks 
  he 
  con- 
  

   fused 
  it 
  with 
  Kinosternon 
  odoratum. 
  Linsley 
  reports 
  one 
  specimen 
  taken 
  at 
  Stratford, 
  Conn., 
  

   in 
  1843. 
  I, 
  therefore, 
  include 
  it 
  provisionally. 
  As 
  the 
  total 
  number 
  of 
  species 
  of 
  turtles 
  recog- 
  

   nized 
  in 
  North 
  America 
  is 
  sixty-one. 
  New 
  England 
  is 
  well 
  represented. 
  

  

  Turtles 
  constitute 
  the 
  order 
  Testudinata 
  of 
  the 
  Class 
  Reptilia, 
  (subclass 
  Synapsida) 
  

  

  (327) 
  

  

  