COPEIA 95 



Color: upper parts of head, body and fins lead 

 gray ; lower parts of same grayish white ; tips of pec- 

 torals black ; and tips of other fins dark. 



W. W. Welsh, 

 U. S. Bureau of Fisheries. 



AN ADDITION TO THE CHELONIAN 

 FAUNA OF MASSACHUSETTS. 



None of the published lists 1 of the reptiles of 

 Massachusetts include the Red-bellied Terrapin. 

 Pseudemys rubriventris (Le Conte). As this turtle 

 inhabits at least one locality in the Commonwealth, 

 the fact should be brought to the attention of nat- 

 uralists, and the occurrence definitely placed on 

 record. 



The Red-bellied Terrapin has been known for 

 some years to inhabit certain ponds in Plymouth 

 County, where it seems to remain localized. Speci- 

 mens have been taken or observed in Gunners Ex- 

 change, Hoyt, Island, Nigger, Hallfield, Boot, Up- 

 per West, and Micajah's Ponds, and reported from 

 several others. These turtles are attractive in ap- 

 pearance, young animals especially being very deli- 

 cately marked. Roughly, their elongated form, the 

 irregular red markings on the carapace and the red 

 or yellowish tinted plastron make them at once con- 

 spicuous among our New England turtles. Adult 

 specimens average ten to twelve inches (length of 

 carapace — axial measurement) . 



They are very shy, 2 living in comparatively deep 

 water, and are rapid swimmers. On warm, bright 



1 (1) Catalogue of the Animals and Plants of Massachusetts, by Ed- 



ward Hitchcock (1835). 



(2) A Report on the Reptiles of Massachusetts, l>v D. H. Storer, 



M.D., Boston Journal of Natural History, Vol. Ill, 1840. 



(3) Catalogue of the Reptiles and Batrachians found in the vicinity 



of Springfield, Mass., by J. A. Allen, Proc. B. S. N. H., Vol. 

 XII, 1868, (additional list 1870). 



(4) List of the Reptilia, Fauna of New England, by Samuel Hen- 



shaw. Occasional Papers of the B. S. N. H., Vol. VII, 1904. 



2 I am indebted to Mr. Henry J. Thayer for information regarding the 



habits of these turtles. 



