Chap. 4. 



REPTILES OF VERMONT. 



lis 



ORDERS or REPTII,ES. 



THE PAINTED TORTOISE. 



Order Chelonia — Tortoises. 

 Emijs picta, Painted Tortoise. 



" inscjilpta, Sculptuied Tortoise. 



Emysaurus xerpentiiia, Snapping Tortoise. 

 Order Sauria. — Lizards. 

 There are none of this order found in 

 the state. 



Order Ophidia — Serpents. 

 Coluber sirtulis. Striped Snake. 



saurita. Ribband Snake. 



" ordinutus, Brown Snake. 

 " occipilomai:utaiu.i, Spotted-neck Snake. 

 " punctatus, Ringed Snake. 

 " vcrnalis, Green Snake. 

 " constrictor. Black Snake. 

 " cximius, Chicken Snake. 



" sipedon, Water Snake. 



Crottilus durissns. Rattle Snake. 

 Order Batrachia. — Datrachians. 



Ra.yia piplcns, 

 " fontinalis, 

 " halceina, 

 " palustris, 

 " sylcatica, 



" " horiconensis, 

 me.hniotd. 



Bull Frog. 

 Spring Frog. 

 Leopard Frog. 

 Pickerel Frog. 

 Woods Frog. 

 Horicon Frog. 

 Black Frog. 



Hylodes Pickeringii, Pickering's Hylodes, 

 Hyla versicolor. Tree Toad. 



" squirclla. Peeping Tree Frog. 



Bvfo aincricanus. Common Toad. 

 Salamnndra m/mniflrica SymmetricalSahimander 



" dorsalis, Many Spotted do. 



" sahnonea, Salmon colored do. 



" tigrina. Tiger Salamander. 



" vencnosa, Violet colored do. 



" erijthronota, Picd-backed do. 



" glntinosa, Glutinous do. 



" bislincata. Two lined do. 

 Menohranchus maculalus, Proteus. 



ORDER I— CHELONIA. 

 TORTOISES. 



Animals of this order have four feet, a 

 heart witli two auricles, and the bod}- en- 

 veloped in two ])lates, or siiields, formed 

 of the vertebras and ribs above and ster- 

 num beneath. Tortoises have no teeth, 

 but their jaws are invested with a bony 

 substance which serves as a substitute 

 for teeth. The sexes may in general be 

 distinguished by the cavity in the ster- 

 num of th(^ male. They possess great 

 tenacity of life, moving for a long time 

 after their heads are cut off. They re- 

 quire little nourishment, and can pass 

 months, and even years, without eating. 



Genus Emys. — Brongniart. 



Generic Characters. — Shell depressed, sol' 



id ; sternum Ijroad, solid, immoveable, firmly 



joined to tlie shell, consisting oflvvelve plates, and 



four supplemental ones ; extremities palmated, 



Ft. 1. 15 



anterior with five nails and posterior with four ; 

 head of ordinary size; tnil long. 



THE PAINTED TORTOISE. 



Emijs picta. — Schneider. 

 DEScRiPTioN.-Shell oblong, oval, rath- 

 er depressed, smooth, and of a dusky 

 brown color ; all the dorsal and lateral 

 plates margined with yellow; a reddish 

 yellow line along the middle of the back; 

 first vertebral plate quadrangular, wider 

 on the fore part and slightly elongated 

 behind, the second six sided, the third 

 quadrangular, the fourth six sided, nar- 

 row behind, the fifth seven sided ; the 

 first lateral plate four sided, upper edge 

 narrow, the lower rounded ; the second 

 and third nearly square. The intermedi- 

 ate marginal plate is narrow, with a notch 

 on each side ; all the rest are either ob- 

 long or square, each having a red spot irt 

 the centre, surrounded by irregular con- 

 centric red lines ; marginal plates mostly 

 red beneath ; sternum reddish yellow, 

 serrated before ; pectoral plates narrow ; 

 caudal plates triangular, rounded behind; 

 head and skin generally dark brown ; an 

 oblonir yellow spot behind each eye, and 

 another upon the back part of the head; 

 cheeks and chin striped with yellow, be- 

 coming red on the neck; legs striped and 

 spotted^ with red ; tail with two yellow 

 stripes above and two red ones on the 

 sides, which unite beneath in one; eyes 

 small, pupil black ; iris golden, with a 

 broad black stripe through the middle. 

 Length of the shell of Ihc specimen be- 

 fore me 5 inches ; width 4| ; height 2^l 

 Plates D. 5, L. 8, M. 25, S. 12.* 

 HisTORV. — This is our most common 

 species of tortoise, and exists in large 

 numbers in the coves along the margin 

 of lake Cham plain and in the stagnant 

 waters about the mouths of our rivers. It 

 is very aquatic in its habits, and is seldom 

 seen more than a few feet from the water. 

 In the spring of the year, when the mar- 

 shes ore inundated, hundreds of these an- 

 imals may be seen at a lime, sitting upon 

 the rocks and logs which lie partly above 

 the water, and basking in the sun. On ap- 

 proaching them thi'v immediately plunge 

 into the water and disappear. When the 



* D— dorsal, L— lateral, M— luarginaU S— ster- 

 nal. 



