382 NATURE-STUDY REVIEW [16:9— Dec, 1920 



in other fresh water species, such as in our common snapping 

 turtle and others. Rarely does this species exceed four inches in 

 length ; and while the tail is pretty long in the males, that append- 

 age is notably short in the opposite sex. Both males and females 

 have the anterior extremity of the upper jaw notched, and a very 

 moderate webbing of the four feet. Superiorly, the shell is black, 

 and presents, scattered over it, more or fewer small, round, yellow 

 spots. On the flat part of the shell below or on the plastron, the 

 coloration and pattern varies considerably, the figure being gener- 

 ally black or blackish, with the yellowish, central figure varying in 

 size and outline, and sometimes passing to almost a salmon or pink 

 color. 



With the exception of the head, the exposed soft parts are of a 

 pinkish salmon color, sometimes blotched with blackish. The 

 head is black above, spotted with yellow, with ai conspicuous yellow 

 or orange spot on either temporal region. 



This beautiful and gentle little species ranges all over the New 

 England States, southward to North Carolina and westward to 

 Iowa. In some localities it is extremely abundant, and aroimd 

 Stamford, Connecticut, in the early 6o's, it was by no means an 

 unusual thing to take thirty or forty of them with a dip-net out of 

 some small pond in that locality. The writer has counted as many 

 as a dozen sunning themselves on some old log that projected above 

 the water of such a pond, wherein many more of these turtles 

 lived. 



The young of this species are truly beautiful little creatures, and 

 make fine additions to aquaria. They will eat tender lettuce 

 leaves, raw meat scraped, angling worms, berries, and the like, 

 and they have the power to go for several months without any food 

 at all. One in the writer's possession at this time has not eaten a 

 mouthful for over two months, yet it is as fat and as lively as any 

 pond turtle that ever lived. After its fast it declined some tender 

 lettuce, of which it is extremely fond. 



It is said that this species invariably feeds under water, and is 

 never known to take food above that element. Some authors 

 state that it can not swallow unless the head is submerged when the 

 reptile is feeding. There are many kinds of aquatic insects it 

 preys upon; but if need be, it will also partake of dead fish. 

 Probably, at least to some extent, this turtle is a vegetarian, and 

 eats, at times, certain aquatic plants. 



