﻿382 
  BABCOCK: 
  NEW 
  ENGLAND 
  TURTLES. 
  

  

  (1906) 
  says: 
  "The 
  manner 
  of 
  gro\^i;h 
  of 
  the 
  shell 
  may 
  first 
  be 
  briefly 
  recalled. 
  The 
  horny 
  

   shield 
  of 
  a 
  terrapin 
  is 
  covered 
  by 
  thin, 
  horny 
  scales 
  or 
  scutes, 
  disposed 
  in 
  several 
  series. 
  As 
  

   the 
  terrapin 
  grows 
  each 
  scute 
  extends 
  its 
  area 
  peripherally, 
  and 
  commonly, 
  in 
  all 
  directions. 
  

   Thus, 
  with 
  each 
  period 
  of 
  growth, 
  a 
  ring 
  of 
  new 
  tissue 
  is 
  added, 
  separated 
  from 
  the 
  central 
  

   area 
  (areola) 
  or 
  the 
  preceding 
  ring, 
  by 
  a 
  line 
  of 
  depression. 
  While 
  these 
  rings 
  are 
  spoken 
  of 
  

   as 
  'concentric,' 
  the 
  term 
  must 
  be 
  taken 
  with 
  a 
  reservation, 
  for 
  growth 
  is 
  not 
  equal 
  in 
  all 
  direc- 
  

   tions. 
  On 
  the 
  contrary, 
  all 
  scutes, 
  except 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  anterior 
  margins 
  of 
  carapace 
  and 
  plas- 
  

   tron, 
  grow 
  more 
  anteriorly 
  than 
  posteriorly; 
  hence 
  the 
  rings 
  are 
  decidedly 
  eccentric, 
  the 
  centre 
  

   of 
  each 
  ring 
  being 
  (on 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  scutes) 
  anterior 
  to 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  preceding 
  ring." 
  

  

  Geographic 
  Distribution. 
  — 
  The 
  Chesapeake 
  Terrapin, 
  separated 
  as 
  a 
  subspecies 
  of 
  M. 
  

   centrata, 
  has 
  a 
  restricted 
  range 
  along 
  the 
  Atlantic 
  coast 
  from 
  Massachusetts 
  to 
  Virginia 
  or 
  

   North 
  CaroUna, 
  extending 
  inland 
  considerable 
  distances 
  along 
  rivers. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  reported 
  

   in 
  the 
  Jame& 
  River 
  above 
  Jamestown, 
  in 
  the 
  Potomac 
  within 
  four 
  miles 
  of 
  Washington, 
  and 
  

   in 
  the 
  Hudson 
  as 
  far 
  as 
  Newburgh. 
  

  

  New 
  England 
  Records. 
  — 
  This 
  Terrapin 
  was 
  first 
  reported 
  from 
  Massachusetts 
  in 
  1870 
  by 
  

   J. 
  A. 
  Allen 
  (1870) 
  who 
  records 
  it 
  from 
  New 
  Bedford, 
  Wareham, 
  and 
  Nantucket 
  Island. 
  Bangs 
  

   (1896) 
  also 
  reported 
  it 
  from 
  Buzzards 
  Bay 
  in 
  1896. 
  In 
  1913, 
  in 
  the 
  Biological 
  Survey 
  of 
  Woods 
  

   Hole 
  and 
  Vicinity, 
  it 
  is 
  also 
  reported 
  from 
  the 
  Wareham 
  and 
  Acushnet 
  Rivers 
  (Sumner, 
  Osbiu-n, 
  

   and 
  Cole, 
  1913, 
  pt. 
  2, 
  p. 
  774). 
  A 
  few 
  years 
  ago 
  the 
  Massachusetts 
  Commissioners 
  of 
  Fish- 
  

   eries 
  and 
  Game 
  exhibited 
  two 
  individuals 
  taken 
  in 
  the 
  salt 
  marshes 
  near 
  Barnstable, 
  Cape 
  Cod, 
  

   Massachusetts. 
  This 
  record 
  establishes 
  a 
  new 
  northern 
  Umit 
  of 
  distribution. 
  In 
  order 
  to 
  

   reach 
  Massachusetts 
  Bay 
  from 
  Buzzards 
  Bay 
  it 
  seems 
  probable 
  that 
  instead 
  of 
  travelUng 
  around 
  

   the 
  uninviting 
  outer 
  coast 
  of 
  Cape 
  Cod 
  these 
  wanderers 
  passed 
  up 
  the 
  Monument 
  River 
  at 
  

   the 
  head 
  of 
  Buzzards 
  Bay 
  to 
  points 
  where 
  its 
  tributaries 
  are 
  in 
  close 
  proximity 
  to 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  

   Scusset 
  River, 
  thence 
  down 
  that 
  body 
  of 
  water 
  to 
  the 
  Scusset 
  marshes 
  west 
  of 
  the 
  to\vn 
  of 
  

   Sandwich, 
  and 
  into 
  Barnstable 
  Bay 
  (the 
  present 
  route 
  of 
  the 
  Cape 
  Cod 
  Canal). 
  This 
  terra- 
  

   pin 
  is 
  also 
  reported 
  from 
  Rhode 
  Island, 
  Connecticut, 
  and 
  Long 
  Island 
  Sound. 
  In 
  the 
  col- 
  

   lection 
  of 
  the 
  Boston 
  Society 
  of 
  Natural 
  History 
  are 
  specimens 
  from 
  Wareham, 
  Massachusetts, 
  

   and 
  Cos 
  Cob, 
  Cormecticut. 
  

  

  Individual 
  Range. 
  — 
  Judging 
  from 
  the 
  numerous 
  local 
  races 
  of 
  these 
  terrapins 
  the 
  individual 
  

   range 
  is 
  probably 
  small. 
  

  

  Habitat. 
  — 
  Primarily 
  salt 
  marshes 
  and 
  contiguous 
  waters, 
  extending 
  at 
  times 
  well 
  up 
  

   rivers, 
  although 
  not 
  beyond 
  the 
  tide 
  line. 
  

  

  Numbers. 
  — 
  While 
  the 
  species 
  is 
  still 
  common 
  in 
  certain 
  more 
  southerly 
  portions 
  of 
  its 
  

   range, 
  the 
  inroads 
  of 
  commercial 
  tm-tle-hunters 
  have 
  greatly 
  reduced 
  its 
  numbers. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  

   common 
  in 
  New 
  England. 
  

  

  Breeding 
  Habits. 
  — 
  The 
  eggs 
  are 
  laid 
  during 
  May 
  or 
  June. 
  The 
  female 
  digs 
  a 
  hole 
  mth 
  

  

  