﻿RED-BELLIED 
  TERRAPIN. 
  375 
  

  

  Nigger, 
  Hillfield, 
  Boot, 
  Upper 
  West, 
  and 
  Micajah 
  Ponds, 
  and 
  reported 
  from 
  several 
  others.' 
  

   There 
  are 
  three 
  Massachusetts 
  specimens 
  in 
  the 
  Museum 
  of 
  Comparative 
  Zoology 
  at 
  Cambridge, 
  

   from 
  the 
  following 
  locations: 
  (I) 
  Upper 
  West 
  Pond, 
  Plymouth 
  County, 
  Mass., 
  collected 
  Octo- 
  

   ber, 
  1905, 
  by 
  F. 
  A. 
  Lucas; 
  (2) 
  Boot 
  Pond, 
  Plymouth, 
  Mass., 
  collected 
  July,. 
  1912, 
  by 
  H. 
  J. 
  

   Thayer; 
  (3) 
  Gunner's 
  Exchange 
  Pond, 
  Plymouth, 
  Mass., 
  collected 
  July, 
  1912, 
  by 
  H. 
  J. 
  Thayer. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  Boston 
  Society 
  of 
  Natural 
  History 
  there 
  is 
  one 
  specimen 
  collected 
  

   at 
  Hillfield 
  Pond, 
  Plymouth, 
  Mass., 
  June, 
  1916, 
  by 
  myself. 
  

  

  Habitat. 
  — 
  Holbrook 
  (1842, 
  vol. 
  1, 
  p. 
  55) 
  in 
  discussing 
  the 
  habits 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  states 
  that 
  

   it 
  is 
  found 
  in 
  "streams 
  and 
  rivers 
  of 
  running 
  water,. 
  generally 
  preferring 
  those 
  with 
  rocky 
  beds." 
  

   In 
  the 
  as 
  yet 
  unpubHshed 
  "Survey 
  of 
  Inland 
  Waters 
  of 
  Massachusetts," 
  by 
  the 
  State 
  Com- 
  

   missioners 
  on 
  Fisheries 
  and 
  Game, 
  I 
  find 
  the 
  following 
  data 
  regarding 
  three 
  of 
  the 
  larger 
  ponds 
  

   in 
  which 
  these 
  turtles 
  are 
  abundant. 
  

  

  Gunner's 
  Exchange 
  Pond: 
  "Greatest 
  depth, 
  25 
  ft.; 
  middle 
  west 
  shore, 
  boggy; 
  several 
  

   wide 
  sand 
  beaches; 
  bottom, 
  muddy." 
  

  

  Boot 
  Pond: 
  "Area 
  74 
  acres; 
  greatest 
  depth, 
  31 
  ft.; 
  bottom, 
  sUght 
  accumulation." 
  

  

  Island 
  Pond: 
  "Area 
  50 
  acres; 
  bottom, 
  pebbles, 
  stone, 
  gravel, 
  and 
  brown 
  mud." 
  Thus 
  

   it 
  appears 
  that 
  a 
  rocky 
  bed 
  is 
  not 
  an 
  essential 
  factor 
  in 
  its 
  environment. 
  

  

  Numbers. 
  — 
  In 
  the 
  central 
  portion 
  of 
  its 
  range 
  it 
  is 
  sufficiently 
  common 
  to 
  be 
  sought 
  com- 
  

   mercially 
  as 
  one 
  of 
  the 
  substitutes 
  for 
  the 
  more 
  expensive 
  Diamond-back 
  Terrapin. 
  

  

  Breeding 
  Habits. 
  — 
  The 
  egg-laying 
  habits 
  of 
  Pseudemys 
  rugosa 
  have 
  been 
  observed 
  as 
  

   follows 
  by 
  H. 
  M. 
  Smith 
  (1904, 
  p. 
  252) 
  : 
  "The 
  egg-laying 
  season 
  is 
  in 
  June 
  and 
  July, 
  and 
  the 
  place 
  

   where 
  the 
  eggs 
  are 
  laid 
  is 
  usually 
  a 
  cultivated 
  tract, 
  often 
  a 
  cornfield 
  adjoining 
  the 
  water. 
  It 
  

   is 
  probable 
  that 
  a 
  field 
  would 
  always 
  be 
  selected, 
  but 
  when 
  there 
  is 
  a 
  high 
  steep 
  bank 
  the 
  eggs 
  

   are 
  of 
  necessity 
  deposited 
  on 
  the 
  shore. 
  The 
  terrapins 
  visit 
  the 
  fields 
  only 
  during 
  egg-laying 
  

   time 
  and 
  only 
  for 
  this 
  purpose, 
  and 
  sometimes 
  make 
  their 
  nests 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  hundred 
  feet 
  

   from 
  the 
  water. 
  It 
  has 
  often 
  been 
  observed 
  that 
  six 
  or 
  eight 
  terrapins 
  will 
  lay 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  

   shore 
  or 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  field, 
  their 
  tracks 
  being 
  easily 
  discernible 
  in 
  the 
  moist 
  or 
  soft 
  sand 
  or 
  loam. 
  

   The 
  nest 
  is 
  made 
  in 
  sand, 
  clay, 
  or 
  loam, 
  a 
  sandy 
  loam 
  or 
  sandy 
  clay 
  being 
  most 
  frequently 
  

   chosen. 
  The 
  nest, 
  which 
  is 
  shaped 
  hke 
  a 
  carafe, 
  is 
  dug 
  by 
  the 
  female 
  with 
  her 
  fore-legs[?]. 
  Its 
  

   size 
  depends 
  on 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  the 
  animal 
  or, 
  what 
  amounts 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  thing, 
  on 
  the 
  number 
  of 
  

   eggs 
  to 
  be 
  laid; 
  an 
  average 
  nest 
  would 
  be 
  four 
  inches 
  deep 
  and 
  four 
  inches 
  wide 
  at 
  the 
  bottom, 
  

   the 
  opening 
  being 
  somewhat 
  smaller 
  than 
  a 
  silver 
  dollar. 
  When 
  on 
  the 
  shore, 
  the 
  nest 
  is 
  always 
  

   above 
  high-water 
  mark. 
  

  

  "All 
  the 
  eggs 
  are 
  laid 
  at 
  one 
  time, 
  and 
  when 
  the 
  laying 
  is 
  completed, 
  earth 
  is 
  scraped 
  into 
  

   and 
  over 
  the 
  hole 
  and 
  packed 
  tightly. 
  The 
  packing 
  is 
  accomplished 
  by 
  the 
  terrapin 
  raising 
  

   herself 
  as 
  high 
  as 
  possible 
  on 
  all 
  four 
  legs 
  and 
  then 
  dropping 
  heavily, 
  by 
  the 
  sudden 
  relaxation 
  

  

  ' 
  I 
  am 
  indebted 
  to 
  Mr. 
  Henry 
  J. 
  Thayer 
  for 
  information 
  concerning 
  these 
  tm'tles. 
  

  

  