116 Species of North American Tortoises. 



middle, surrounded by concentric lines of the same. Sternum 

 yellow, finely serrate before, and with a very small emargina- 

 tion both before and behind ; scapular plates triangular, pro- 

 jecting a little beyond the rest ; brachial plates triangular, with 

 the apices truncate ; caudal plates triangular, the posterior 

 face rounded ; the rest quadrangular ; pectoral plates narrow. 

 Skin black, an oblong yellow spot behind each eye, and another 

 on the top of the back part of the head ; upper jaw, chin and 

 cheeks striped with yellow, throat and sides of the neck with 

 red, being continuations of the yellow stripes on the chin and 

 cheeks. Legs and tail scaly ; fore legs with two red stripes 

 on the upper side, and a few irregular spots of the same on 

 the toes and beneath ; hind legs with two red stripes on the 

 under side, and some spots of the same above : tail with two 

 yellow stripes above, and two red ones on the sides which 

 unite beneath into one. Eyes yellow, with a broad black 

 stripe through the middle ; upper jaw slightly emarginate. 

 Feet palmate five-toed ; claws 5-4. 



In some individuals the lateral plates are marked with a per- 

 pendicular curved yellowish line and sometimes are reticulate 

 with yellow near the inferior face. 



Plates of the margin twenty-five, of the sternum twelve. 



Length nine inches, height four. 



Inhabit only in the northern states from Canada to Virginia 

 in ponds, never in streams of running water. Here they may 

 be seen in great numbers, basking in the sun on rocks or logs, 

 and plunging instantaneously into the water on the approach 

 of any one. They vary much in the intensity of their color, 

 and in the liveliness of the markings on the plates : the young 

 ones, however, are always more brilliant than those which are 

 more advanced. They die in a very few days after being taken 

 from the water. 



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