3G2 



VEUTEBUATA. 



THE SALT-WATER TERRAPIN. 



THB SMOOTH TERRAPIN'. 



ami the head and neck can be completely retracted within the shell. The nostrils are placed at 

 the apex of tlie snout, hut are not prolon<2:ed into a proboscis. They are chiefly aquatic, hut 

 Inove well upon tlie land, and feed upon small fislies and acpiatic insects. They are most abund- 

 ant in warm climates, but some species ai-e found in Nortli America, and also in Europe. By 

 some naturalists the Box-Tortoises are included in this family, but we shall notice them among 

 the Land Tortoises. 



Genus EMYS : Emrjs. — Of this, one of the best known species in this country is the Salt- 



Water Terraplx, £, palustris : 

 the shell five to seven inches 

 long ; color a dull brown ; found 

 exclusively in salt or brackish 

 streams near the sea-shore. Tt 

 buries itself in the mud diii'ino; 

 the winter, from which it is 

 taken in great numbers, being 

 then very fat. This is the cele- 

 brated terrapin of the epicures. 

 It is found on Long Island, and abundantly on the coast further nortli. The Smooth Terrapin, 

 E. icrrapin, seven or eight inches long, is similar to the preceding, and is valued for the table ; 

 found from Rhode Island southward along the coast. 



The Painted Tortoise, E. picta, is from five to nine inches long ; a very handsome species, 



found in fresh waters, timid and 

 inoffensive, rano-inor from Lake 

 Superior to Georgia. Though 

 sometimes eaten it is not greatly 

 prized. 



The Spotted Tortoise, E. 



ffuttata, is three to four inches 



long ; black, with rounded spots 



above ; beneath varied with 



black and yellow ; sometimes 



takes to the land, and feeds on 



worms and insects ; it is often 



called Speckled To7-io/sc ; found 



throughout the Union. 



The Red-bellied Terrapin, E. rubriventris, is ten to seventeen inches long; color dusky, 



with reddish spots, above ; beneath red; common in New York and the neighborhood; the 



flesh is good, and it is often brought to the markets. 



THE SPOTTED TORTOISE. 



