TERRAPINS. 



7i 



the other hand, the Caspian terrapin (C. caspica), ranging from the Caspian Sea to 

 the Persian Gulf, the Spanish terrapin (C. leprosa), of Spain and North- Western 

 Africa, and the Japanese terrapin (C. japonica), resemble one another in having the 

 median union of the anal shields shorter than that of the f emorals. The sculptured 

 terrapin, which attains a length of about 7 inches, is specially characterised by the 

 toes being webbed only at their bases, by the upper jaw having a notch in the 

 middle, on the sides of which are a pair of tooth-like projections, and by the 

 serration of the hinder border of the carapace. The shell is much depressed, with 

 a raised keel down the middle of the back, and the shields of the carapace orna- 

 mented with the radiating and concentric striae from which that species takes its name. 



sculptured terrapin (£ nat. size). 



While the ground-colour of the carapace is blackish, the radiating lines are yellow ; 

 the plastron being yellow, with a large black blotch on each of its shields. The soft 

 parts are dark brown or olive, the sides of the head being speckled with red. 

 The figured species is exceedingly abundant on the Atlantic side of the United 

 States, from Maine to Pennsylvania and New Jersey. Frequenting both marshes 

 and rivers, it leaves the water for much longer periods than its European congeners, 

 and is sometimes found for months at a time in perfectly dry places. In wandering 

 from one stream to another, it makes regular tracks through the woods, and is 

 hence frequently termed in America the wood-terrapin. In its feeding and general 

 mode of life, this terrapin presents no features distinguishing it from other 

 carnivorous kinds. 



