CLASS III. REPTILIA: OllDEll 1. CHELONIA. 



363 



THE RED-BELLIED TERKAPIN. 



THE WOOD-TERRAPIN. 



The "Wood-Terrapin, E. insculpia^ is eleven inches long; color brown tinged with reddish, and 



with radiating yellow lines; it 

 frequents fresh waters, and is 

 sometimes called the Fresh- 

 Water Tcrvdp'tn ; l>ut being 

 often met with in woods at a 

 distance from water, tlie name 

 given above has been be- 

 iajP|^ stowed upon it. It is harm- 

 less, but wlien irritated will 

 snap at the offender. Found 

 "''^' from Canada to Pennsylvania. 



Muhlenberg's Tortoise, E. 

 MiMenhergit., is four inches long; shell 

 dark brown, with irregular lines of dingy 

 yellow ; it is terrestrial, preferring moist 

 places. Found from New York to Penn- 

 sylvania. 



The Geographic Tortoise, E. geo- 

 graphica^ is ten to eleven inches long ; 

 shell olive-brown, with paler meandering 

 lines ; common in AVestern New York. 

 The Pseudo-geographic Tortoise, 

 E. 2'>seiido-geographica, same size as the 

 preceding, and in color much resembling it, is found in the western lakes. 



Other species are as follows: the Yellow-bellied Terrapin, E. scrruta., twelve inches long; 

 found from Virginia to Georgia: the Chicken-Tortoise, E. reticulata^ ten inches long; found 

 from North Carolina to Georgia : the Florida Terrapin, ^. i^/o>v'(^a«o, fourteen inches long; 

 ^ound in East Florida: the Mobile Terrapin, E. ifo6?7f??i>/.«?, thirteen inches long; found in Ala- 

 bama : the Oregon Terrapin, ^. 0^•e^o?^e>^A■^>, seven inches long ; prefers running streams ; found 

 in the Oregon River : the Hieroglyphic Tortoise, E. hieroglyphica, twelve inches long ; found 

 in Tennessee : the Cumberland Tortoise, E. Cumberlandensis, five and a half inches long ; also 

 found in Tennessee : the E. concinna, eight and a half inches long ; found in Georgia rivers : the 

 E. Troostii, eight inches long ; found in the Cumberland River. 



It thus appears that fifteen or twenty species of tliis genus are known and described in the 

 United States, and, according to De Kay, including nearly all the known fresh-water tortoises 

 in America ; it is probable that farther investigation will bring others to light, and doubtless the 

 range of many we have noticed will prove to be more extensive than we have indicated. 



Genus KINOSTERNON : Kinosternon. — This includes the Mud-Tortoise, K. Pcnnsylvanicum, 



six inches long ; shell olive-brown ; 

 it has a strong musky odor ; in- 

 habits ditches and mudily ponds, 

 and will often take the hook ; preys 

 on fishes and small aquatic insects ; 

 extensively distributed throughout 

 the United States. The plastron 

 is divided into three sections, the 

 first and the last only being mov- 

 able. 



C'mMsSTERNOTIIERUS: Ster- 

 nothcrus. — This includes the Musk- 

 Tortoise, S.odoratus; its length is 

 three and a half inches ; color usually obscured by mud, but when it is cleaned it appears to be 



THE MUD-TOKTOISE. 



