﻿404 
  BABCOCK: 
  NEW 
  ENGLAND 
  TURTLES. 
  

  

  Geographic 
  Distribution. 
  — 
  This 
  species 
  is 
  essentially 
  a 
  boreal 
  one, 
  ranging 
  northward 
  

   into 
  Canada 
  and 
  south 
  through 
  New 
  Jersey 
  and 
  Pennsylvania 
  to 
  the 
  Maryland 
  shore 
  of 
  the 
  

   Potomac, 
  "near 
  Pluniniers 
  Island, 
  about 
  ten 
  miles 
  west 
  of 
  Washington, 
  D. 
  C," 
  which 
  southern- 
  

   most 
  record 
  was 
  estabUshed 
  in 
  1907 
  by 
  H. 
  W. 
  Henshaw 
  (1907). 
  Westward 
  it 
  ranges 
  to 
  Ohio, 
  

   Michigan, 
  Wisconsin, 
  and 
  southwestern 
  Ontario. 
  

  

  New 
  England 
  Records. 
  — 
  This 
  species 
  is 
  recorded 
  from 
  all 
  of 
  the 
  New 
  England 
  States. 
  

   In 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  Boston 
  Society 
  of 
  Natural 
  History 
  are 
  specimens 
  from 
  Augusta, 
  Maine; 
  

   Littleton 
  and 
  Concord, 
  New 
  Hampshire; 
  and 
  Ipswich 
  River, 
  Massachusetts. 
  

  

  Numbers. 
  — 
  This 
  turtle 
  appears 
  to 
  vary 
  greatly 
  in 
  abundance 
  in 
  difTerent 
  locaUties. 
  It 
  is 
  

   reported 
  as 
  common 
  in 
  Oxford 
  County, 
  Maine 
  (Verrill, 
  1863); 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  

   Springfield, 
  Massachusetts 
  (Allen, 
  1868); 
  very 
  common 
  about 
  Lancaster, 
  Massachusetts 
  

   (Agassiz); 
  and 
  rare 
  in 
  Rhode 
  Island 
  (Drowne, 
  1905). 
  I 
  have 
  not 
  found 
  it 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  

   region 
  about 
  Dedham, 
  Massachusetts. 
  Agassiz 
  (1857, 
  vol. 
  1, 
  p. 
  294) 
  in 
  speaking 
  of 
  its 
  oc- 
  

   currence 
  in 
  Lancaster, 
  Massachusetts, 
  says 
  it 
  "is 
  so 
  common 
  in 
  the 
  neighborhood. 
  . 
  .that 
  I 
  

   have 
  at 
  times 
  collected 
  over 
  one 
  hundred 
  specimens 
  in 
  an 
  afternoon, 
  aided 
  by 
  a 
  few 
  friends." 
  

   Numbers 
  are 
  doubtless 
  biu-ned 
  in 
  the 
  woods 
  during 
  the 
  periods 
  of 
  forest 
  fires. 
  

  

  Habitat. 
  — 
  The 
  Wood 
  Tortoise 
  occupies 
  a 
  position 
  on 
  the 
  border 
  hne 
  between 
  aquatic 
  

   tm'tles 
  and 
  terrapins 
  and 
  land-going 
  tortoises, 
  ranging 
  far 
  from 
  water 
  during 
  the 
  summer 
  and 
  

   leading 
  during 
  this 
  time 
  a 
  strictly 
  terrestrial 
  existence 
  in 
  woods 
  and 
  pastures, 
  but 
  returning 
  in 
  

   the 
  fall 
  to 
  swampy 
  regions 
  and 
  hibernating 
  duriag 
  the 
  winter 
  in 
  the 
  mud 
  of 
  river 
  and 
  pond 
  

   bottoms, 
  or 
  sometimes 
  on 
  land 
  in 
  the 
  woods. 
  In 
  the 
  spring 
  it 
  is 
  often 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  water. 
  Next 
  

   to 
  the 
  Box 
  Tortoise 
  (Terrapene 
  Carolina) 
  this 
  is 
  our 
  most 
  terrestrial 
  Chelonian. 
  

  

  Breeding 
  Habits. 
  — 
  The 
  laying 
  season 
  of 
  the 
  Wood 
  Tortoise 
  corresponds 
  with 
  that 
  of 
  our 
  

   other 
  New 
  England 
  tm-tles 
  (roughly, 
  June 
  10 
  to 
  Jime 
  25). 
  Thoreau 
  (1884, 
  p. 
  160) 
  speaks 
  of 
  

   finding 
  one 
  laying 
  in 
  mid-afternoon, 
  and 
  refers 
  to 
  June 
  12, 
  1860 
  (with 
  the 
  temperature 
  at 
  85° 
  

   F. 
  at 
  2 
  p. 
  M.) 
  as 
  the 
  date 
  when 
  turtles 
  "fairly 
  and 
  generally 
  began 
  to 
  lay" 
  for 
  that 
  year. 
  Dur- 
  

   ing 
  the 
  mating 
  season 
  both 
  sexes 
  have 
  been 
  observed 
  to 
  utter 
  a 
  subdued 
  whistle. 
  The 
  eggs, 
  

   as 
  with 
  other 
  species, 
  are 
  deposited 
  in 
  a 
  cavity 
  in 
  the 
  ground 
  prepared 
  by 
  the 
  female, 
  then 
  

   covered 
  and 
  left 
  to 
  be 
  hatched 
  by 
  the 
  heat 
  of 
  the 
  sun. 
  The 
  eggs 
  are 
  ellipsoidal 
  in 
  shape 
  and 
  are 
  

   thin-shelled. 
  A. 
  H. 
  Wright 
  makes 
  the 
  following 
  interesting 
  observation: 
  "In 
  the 
  fall 
  of 
  the 
  

   year 
  we 
  find 
  these 
  turtles, 
  from 
  September 
  20-October 
  15. 
  [New 
  York.] 
  Then, 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  

   spring, 
  they 
  are 
  near 
  or 
  actually 
  in 
  our 
  streams. 
  This 
  fall 
  on 
  October 
  1, 
  I 
  chanced 
  on 
  what 
  I 
  

   mistook 
  for 
  a 
  dead 
  wood 
  turtle 
  in 
  the 
  dammed-up 
  stretch 
  of 
  a 
  woodland 
  stream, 
  which 
  was 
  

   .4 
  feet 
  wide 
  and 
  1 
  or 
  2 
  feet 
  deep. 
  The 
  head 
  was 
  hanging 
  perpendicularly 
  downward 
  as 
  if 
  it 
  

   were 
  caught 
  or 
  held 
  by 
  something. 
  Upon 
  endeavor 
  to 
  move 
  it 
  the 
  turtle 
  seemed 
  very 
  heavy, 
  

   and 
  soon 
  to 
  my 
  surprise 
  it 
  proved 
  the 
  male 
  of 
  a 
  mated 
  pair. 
  The 
  head 
  looked 
  to 
  be 
  hooked 
  

   between 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  the 
  carapace 
  and 
  plastron 
  of 
  the 
  female 
  turtle. 
  Apparently 
  this 
  was 
  not 
  for 
  

  

  