﻿376 
  BABCOCK: 
  NEW 
  ENGLAND 
  TURTLES. 
  

  

  of 
  the 
  extensor 
  muscles. 
  Immediately 
  after 
  covering 
  the 
  nest, 
  the 
  terrapin 
  -nithdraws 
  to 
  the 
  

   water. 
  

  

  "The 
  size 
  of 
  the 
  eggs 
  varies 
  somewhat 
  with 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  the 
  terrapin, 
  but 
  averages 
  one 
  inch 
  

   by 
  three-fourths 
  of 
  an 
  inch. 
  A 
  six-inch 
  terrapin 
  lays 
  ten 
  or 
  twelve 
  eggs, 
  while 
  the 
  largest 
  

   terrapins, 
  fourteen 
  or 
  sixteen 
  inches 
  long, 
  lay 
  as 
  many 
  as 
  twenty-five 
  to 
  thirty-five 
  eggs, 
  pos- 
  

   sibly 
  more. 
  When 
  a 
  terrapin 
  is 
  disturbed 
  while 
  making 
  a 
  nest 
  or 
  laying, 
  she 
  will 
  abandon 
  the 
  

   nest. 
  On 
  one 
  occasion, 
  when 
  a 
  terrapin 
  was 
  discovered 
  over 
  a 
  nest 
  in 
  a 
  cornfield, 
  removed 
  to 
  

   see 
  whether 
  any 
  eggs 
  had 
  been 
  deposited, 
  and 
  replaced 
  over 
  the 
  hole 
  in 
  the 
  ground, 
  it 
  was 
  

   found 
  when 
  the 
  place 
  was 
  visited 
  two 
  hours 
  later 
  that 
  she 
  had 
  left 
  without 
  laying 
  any 
  eggs. 
  

   The 
  eggs 
  probably 
  hatch 
  during 
  the 
  summer, 
  but 
  on 
  this 
  point 
  there 
  have 
  been 
  no 
  personal 
  

   observations. 
  The 
  young, 
  however, 
  remain 
  in 
  the 
  nest 
  until 
  the 
  following 
  spring 
  (April 
  10 
  

   in 
  one 
  case), 
  and 
  when 
  they 
  emerge 
  they 
  are 
  about 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  a 
  twenty-five-cent 
  piece. 
  They 
  

   go 
  to 
  the 
  water 
  at 
  once." 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Thayer 
  sends 
  me 
  the 
  following 
  notes 
  on 
  the 
  breeding 
  habits 
  of 
  this 
  terrapin 
  at 
  

   Plymouth, 
  Massachusetts: 
  "Breeding 
  season 
  in 
  June. 
  Lay 
  about 
  eight 
  eggs, 
  these 
  deposited 
  

   in 
  excavation 
  in 
  sand 
  about 
  two 
  or 
  three 
  inches 
  deep; 
  then 
  make 
  hole 
  still 
  deeper 
  by 
  sticking 
  

   tail 
  down 
  and 
  making 
  round 
  hole 
  into 
  which 
  egg 
  is 
  laid. 
  Eggs 
  not 
  laid 
  in 
  bunch, 
  but 
  each 
  in 
  

   separate 
  hole 
  made 
  with 
  tail; 
  in 
  the 
  pan 
  say 
  six 
  inches 
  wide 
  excavated 
  first 
  with 
  legs. 
  Whole 
  

   clutch 
  then 
  covered 
  with 
  sand; 
  wet 
  down 
  by 
  the 
  terrapin 
  and 
  place 
  made 
  difficult 
  to 
  trace 
  

   by 
  continuing 
  the 
  crawl 
  farther 
  for 
  it 
  may 
  be 
  more 
  than 
  one 
  hundred 
  feet." 
  

  

  Habits.^ 
  Red-belUed 
  Terrapins 
  are 
  alert, 
  active, 
  and 
  very 
  shy. 
  They 
  are 
  semi-aquatic 
  

   and 
  can 
  be 
  seen 
  on 
  bright, 
  hot 
  days 
  sunning 
  themselves 
  on 
  rocks 
  in 
  the 
  water 
  or 
  on 
  the 
  shore, 
  

   but 
  always 
  ready 
  to 
  disappear 
  quickly 
  at 
  the 
  slightest 
  sign 
  of 
  danger. 
  They 
  Uve 
  in 
  com- 
  

   paratively 
  deep 
  water 
  and 
  are 
  strong, 
  rapid 
  swimmers. 
  They 
  are 
  occasionally 
  seen 
  at 
  a 
  con- 
  

   siderable 
  distance 
  from 
  water. 
  Thus 
  Dr. 
  F. 
  A. 
  Lucas 
  writes 
  me 
  that 
  he 
  found 
  a 
  large 
  specimen 
  

   in 
  1913, 
  in 
  the 
  middle 
  of 
  the 
  road 
  half 
  a 
  mile 
  from 
  Crooked 
  Pond, 
  Plymouth, 
  Massachusetts. 
  

   Sometime 
  during 
  October 
  (in 
  Massachusetts) 
  these 
  turtles 
  dig 
  into 
  the 
  mud 
  under 
  shallow 
  

   water 
  and 
  begin 
  a 
  period 
  of 
  hibernation 
  which 
  lasts 
  until 
  spring. 
  

  

  Food. 
  — 
  Their 
  food 
  is 
  both 
  animal 
  and 
  vegetable, 
  consisting 
  of 
  snails, 
  fish, 
  tadpoles, 
  craw- 
  

   fish, 
  and 
  aquatic 
  vegetation. 
  

  

  Enemies. 
  — 
  H. 
  M. 
  Smith 
  (1904) 
  observes: 
  "Birds 
  (especially 
  crows) 
  and 
  other 
  animals 
  

   doubtless 
  destroy 
  some 
  eggs. 
  On 
  one 
  occasion 
  a 
  terrapin 
  was 
  observed 
  over 
  a 
  nest 
  on 
  the 
  

   shore, 
  and 
  a 
  crow 
  noticed 
  on 
  a 
  dead 
  tree 
  near 
  by. 
  When 
  the 
  terrapin 
  covered 
  the 
  eggs, 
  con- 
  

   cealed 
  the 
  nest, 
  and 
  withdrew 
  to 
  the 
  water, 
  the 
  crow 
  immediately 
  dropped 
  to 
  the 
  ground 
  and 
  

   began 
  to 
  dig 
  into 
  the 
  nest. 
  Before 
  the 
  observer, 
  who 
  was 
  in 
  a 
  boat, 
  could 
  reach 
  the 
  shore, 
  

   the 
  crow 
  had 
  destroyed 
  at 
  least 
  two 
  of 
  the 
  eggs, 
  seven 
  others 
  remaining." 
  

  

  Mr. 
  Thayer 
  reports 
  finding 
  on 
  one 
  occasion, 
  in 
  May, 
  a 
  specimen 
  which 
  had 
  just 
  died, 
  in 
  

  

  