464 CHELONIANS. 



of any person, they slip suddenly into the water. This species 

 is the Nanemys, (Gr. dwarf-emys,) gutiata, of Agassiz. 



The genus Cistudo, (Lat. a box.) includes TERRAPINS, or Box 

 TORTOISES. These, like the Emydes, have five toes on the fore 

 feet and four on the hind ones. The head is very high ; the 

 plastron, broad, oval, and divided by a transverse hinge into two 

 movable portions or valves, by means of which the whole body 

 may be shut in. The beak of the upper jaw projects downward 

 in the middle ; the lower jaw is sharp pointed in front ; the hind 

 foot plantigrade. These Tortoises never take to the water from 

 choice, and would be drowned if detained there. Indeed, they 

 are so much on dry land as to be sometimes called Land Tor- 

 toises. 



The CAROLINA TERRAPIN, or Box TORTOISE, C. Carolina, or 

 C. Virginia, (Agassiz,) is found in New England, also westward 

 as far as Michigan, and southward as far as the Carolinas. In 

 its general habits, in the vaulted form of its carapace, and in the 

 structure of its feet, which are but slightly palmated, it appears 

 to be a link between the Marsh and Land Tortoises. This spe- 

 cies is not aquatic, preferring woods and dry places and living 

 on vegetables and insects; occasionally, however, it is met with 

 in swamps and moist places. Of all the Marsh Tortoises, it has 

 the shortest and most convex carapace. The general color is 

 dark brown with stars and blotches. The flesh is not much es- 

 teemed, but the eggs, which are about as large as a pigeon's, are 

 thought to be excellent, and are much sought for. The length 

 of this species is from five to seven inches. 



BLANDING'S Box TORTOISE, C. Blandingii, has a shell less 

 raised than that of the Carolina Terrapin,^and the lower jaw is 

 hooked instead of the upper, as in the Carolina species. Its 

 length is from seven to eight inches. This species was first ac- 

 curately described and figured by Dr. Holbrook, in his valuable 

 work on North American Herpetology. According to Agassiz, 

 who deems this a "true Emys," the oldest name is E. meleagris. 

 The EUROPEAN Box TORTOISE, C. Europaa, is widely dif- 

 fused. It differs from the Carolina Terrapin in giving the pref- 

 erence to still waters, ponds and marshes, in the mud of which 

 it delights to bury itself. This species is particularly fond of 

 small fishes. These it kills previously to .devouring them, but 

 rejects the air sac, which rises and floats on the surface, so that 

 the abundance or scarcity of these animals in any pool or sheet 

 of water, is judged of by the numbers of these floating air sacs. 

 The flesh of the European Box Tortoise, though not very deli- 

 cate, is nevertheless eaten. 



