﻿BLANDING'S 
  TORTOISE. 
  409 
  

  

  It 
  is 
  of 
  interest 
  to 
  note 
  that 
  the 
  only 
  other 
  species 
  of 
  this 
  genus 
  (which 
  closely 
  resembles 
  

   E. 
  blandingii) 
  occurs 
  in 
  southern 
  and 
  central 
  Eiirope, 
  Asia 
  Minor, 
  and 
  northern 
  Africa, 
  although 
  

   its 
  range 
  formerly 
  extended 
  through 
  Germany, 
  the 
  Netherlands, 
  and 
  Denmark, 
  into 
  southern 
  

   Sweden 
  and 
  the 
  British 
  Isles. 
  The 
  widely 
  separated 
  areas 
  of 
  distribution 
  of 
  these 
  two 
  very 
  

   similar 
  turtles 
  is 
  explained 
  by 
  the 
  "land-bridges" 
  which 
  formerly 
  connected 
  North 
  America 
  

   with 
  Europe 
  and 
  with 
  Asia. 
  Scott 
  ^ 
  says 
  in 
  this 
  connection: 
  "Between 
  Em'ope 
  and 
  North 
  

   America 
  there 
  has 
  always 
  been 
  a 
  certain 
  proportion 
  of 
  mammaUan 
  forms 
  in 
  common, 
  a 
  propor- 
  

   tion 
  that 
  was 
  at 
  one 
  time 
  greater, 
  at 
  another 
  less, 
  and 
  this 
  community 
  renders 
  the 
  correlation 
  

   of 
  the 
  larger 
  divisions 
  of 
  the 
  Tertiaiy 
  in 
  the 
  two 
  continents 
  comparatively 
  easy, 
  and- 
  even 
  in 
  

   the 
  minor 
  subdivisions 
  very 
  satisfactory 
  progress 
  has 
  been 
  made, 
  so 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  possible 
  to 
  trace 
  

   in 
  some 
  detail 
  the 
  migrations 
  of 
  mammals 
  from 
  the 
  eastern 
  to 
  the 
  western 
  hemisphere 
  and 
  ince 
  

   versa. 
  Such 
  intermigrations 
  were 
  made 
  possible 
  by 
  the 
  land-bridges 
  connecting 
  America 
  with 
  

   Europe 
  across 
  the 
  Atlantic, 
  perhaps 
  on 
  the 
  line 
  of 
  Greenland 
  and 
  Iceland, 
  and 
  with 
  Asia 
  where 
  

   now 
  is 
  Bering 
  Strait. 
  These 
  connections 
  were 
  repeatedly 
  made 
  and 
  repeatedly 
  Ijroken 
  during 
  

   the 
  Mesozoic 
  and 
  Cenozolc 
  eras 
  down 
  to 
  the 
  latest 
  epoch, 
  the 
  Pleistocene." 
  

  

  New 
  England 
  Records. 
  — 
  While 
  this 
  turtle 
  is 
  nowhere 
  common 
  in 
  New 
  England, 
  it 
  is 
  re- 
  

   corded 
  from 
  Manchester 
  (near 
  Cohas 
  Brook), 
  Milford, 
  and 
  Auburn, 
  New 
  Hampshire; 
  from 
  

   Haverhill, 
  Lancaster, 
  Concord 
  (and 
  also 
  from 
  Concord 
  River, 
  off 
  Dakin's 
  Hill, 
  Concord) 
  (Howe, 
  

   1911), 
  North 
  Reading, 
  Tyngsborough, 
  and 
  Billerica, 
  Massachusetts. 
  Drowne 
  states 
  that 
  it 
  

   is 
  "recorded 
  in 
  Rhode 
  Island" 
  but 
  does 
  not 
  give 
  any 
  definite 
  records. 
  Linsley 
  says 
  there 
  is 
  

   no 
  absolute 
  Connecticut 
  record, 
  but 
  thinks 
  he 
  saw 
  one. 
  There 
  is 
  a 
  single 
  record 
  from 
  Long 
  

   Island, 
  at 
  Queens 
  (Schoonhoven, 
  1911). 
  In 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  Boston 
  Society 
  of 
  Natural 
  

   History 
  are 
  specimens 
  from 
  Billerica, 
  Mass.; 
  Tyngsborough, 
  Mass.; 
  and 
  Concord, 
  Mass. 
  

   This 
  last 
  specimen 
  (a 
  shell 
  only) 
  is 
  of 
  special 
  interest, 
  as 
  it 
  was 
  collected 
  and 
  presented 
  to 
  the 
  

   Society 
  by 
  Henry 
  David 
  Thoreau. 
  

  

  Habitat. 
  — 
  This 
  species 
  is 
  semi-aquatic. 
  While 
  it 
  is 
  sometimes 
  found 
  wandering 
  about 
  in 
  

   fields 
  and 
  woods, 
  it 
  is 
  usually 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  ponds 
  and 
  streams. 
  Garman 
  (1892, 
  p. 
  215) 
  

   calls 
  it 
  "essentially 
  a 
  terrestrial 
  species." 
  Individuals 
  vary 
  greatly 
  in 
  regard 
  to 
  their 
  modes 
  

   of 
  life, 
  some 
  being 
  almost 
  wholly 
  aquatic. 
  

  

  Numbers. 
  — 
  Blanding's 
  Turtle 
  is 
  rare 
  in 
  New 
  England, 
  although 
  reported 
  as 
  abundant 
  in 
  

   Indiana 
  and 
  other 
  Central 
  States. 
  

  

  Breeding 
  Habits. 
  — 
  Gadow 
  (1901, 
  p. 
  355) 
  describes 
  the 
  breeding 
  habits 
  of 
  the 
  closely 
  allied 
  

   species, 
  E. 
  orbicularis, 
  as 
  follows: 
  "Diiring 
  the 
  pairing 
  season, 
  on 
  warm 
  spring 
  nights, 
  they 
  

   emit 
  short 
  piping 
  sounds, 
  and 
  when 
  they 
  have 
  found 
  each 
  other, 
  the 
  couple 
  swim 
  about 
  together. 
  

   The 
  white, 
  hard-shelled, 
  long, 
  oval 
  eggs, 
  averaging 
  25 
  to 
  15 
  mm., 
  and 
  about 
  ten 
  in 
  number, 
  

   are 
  laid 
  on 
  land. 
  This 
  is 
  a 
  very 
  laborious 
  and 
  curious 
  lousiness. 
  The 
  female 
  having 
  selected 
  

  

  ' 
  Scutt, 
  W. 
  B. 
  A 
  History 
  of 
  Land 
  Manimals 
  in 
  the 
  Western 
  Hemisphere, 
  1913, 
  p. 
  18. 
  

  

  