Tfu:nusi:. 



horn -colored lines an.l s| K >ts ; the under shell yellow, with large black blotches; the throat 

 striped green ; shell eight indies in length 



THK KI.KOANT TERRAPIH(P. ebgant)i a Western spe<-ies. being confined to the regi-"' 

 east of the Rocky Mountains as far as Illinois The colors are brown with heavy lines and 

 blotches ; a blood-colored Umd on each side of the neck. The under shell is yellow, with 

 a diiskv blotch on each plate. 



THE ROUGH TERRAPIN (P. scabra) is found along the shore from Virginia to Florida. 

 It is dark brown with yellow stripes ; under shell yellow, with small black blotches in front 

 Length of .shell, eight indies. 



A number of other species are enumerated as North American, and recorded in the list of 

 North American Reptiles at the close of this volume. 



THE SHALL MUD TURTLE (Cinoslarnvm pennyl9anicum) is found abundantly in New 



York, and southward to Florida. The family and generic names indicate the fact tliat it has 

 a movable sternum. The shell is dusky-brown; the head and neck with light stripes and 

 yellow dots. In some localities it is called Small Box Turtle. It abounds in muddy ]M>nds 

 and pools, living on fish. Length of shell, three and a half inches. 



THE MUSK TURTLE (AromocTidy* odarata). Abundant in eastern United States, and west* 

 ward to Indiana. Its exceedingly potent musky odor quite distinguishes it Shell, three and 

 a half inches in length. 



THE LITTLE MI-KK TURTLE (A. carinata) is fonnd in the Mississippi region. 



THE common MUD TORTOISE, so called from its mud-haunting propensities, is an example 

 of rather a curious 

 genus of Tortoises, in- 

 habiting America. 



It is an odd little 

 creature, being when 

 adult not quite four 

 inches in length, and 

 moving with moderate 

 speed. It is mostly 

 fonnd in ponds and 

 muddy pooh), where 

 it feeds upon fish, 

 aquatic insects, and 

 similar diet, catching 

 >M-II the active fish 

 without much diffi- 

 culty. I lately saw 

 some a< | uatic Tortoises, 

 whidi 1 think belonged 

 to this genus, which 

 had to be ejected from 

 a large basin of a foun- 

 tain because they killed 

 the newts which in- 

 habited the same locality. Their movements in the water were so deliberate that it was not 

 until they were detected in the very act of bitim: the newts that their delinquencies were dis- 

 covered. Their mode of attack was simply to creep under their victim as it balanced it- If 



,, 





MUD TOIITOlM-tV. 



