156 



Aquatic liitz 



ing been presented to me by Mr. Edward 

 S. Schmid, of Washington, who had a 

 number of this species of turtle in a 

 tank at his establishment. These figures 

 show very well the slight difference in 

 the form of the eggs of the two genera. 

 All are pure white and ellipsoidal in 

 form. 



Our common Spotted Turtle is so well 

 known that it requires no special de- 

 scription. The upper shell is always 

 black, with scattered, round, yellow 

 spots ; the plastron may be yellow or 

 salmon color, with a central figure of 

 black, the latter subject to great varia- 

 tion. The head is black with yellow 

 markings, particularly with a deep yellow 

 spot over the auricular opening. 



This familiar pond turtle is almost en- 

 tirely aquatic by habit, being found in 

 streams, ponds, ditches with water in 

 them, etc. It feeds under water, and will 

 eat of the leaves of certain plants, such 

 as lettuce and the like. The male has a 

 long tail and the female a very short one. 

 It occurs from Northern Maine to North 

 Carolina, westward to the Mississippi 

 Valley. It rarely exceeds four inches in 

 length of shell or carapace. 



The Western Pond Turtle, with habits 

 quite similar to the last, is also a blackish 

 species, yellow spots and dashes marking 

 each shield of the carapace, the dashes 

 running from the shield's centre to its 

 margin in every instance. The brown 

 limbs are spotted with yellow or black, 

 as is also the head. This is a Pacific 

 Coast species, and the only species of 

 pond turtle of that entire region. 



Muhlenberg's Turtle is also a black 

 species with yellow blotches on its plas- 

 tron, and a very distinctive bright orange 

 spot on either side of the head, not far 

 i rom the auricular opening. It runs 

 about four inches for the length of its 

 shell, and is aquatic in its habits. Thus 



far it has been found only in New York, 

 New Jersey and Pennsylvania — Staten 

 Island being the centre of its abundance. 

 Coming to the Wood Terrapin, a spe- 

 cies I have had in confinement for 

 months at a time, we have under consid- 

 eration a species that is strictly a land 

 tortoise, which may attain a length of 

 carapace of seven inches. It is fond of 

 damp woods, and takes to the water only 

 as it rambles around through them. The 



species is of an affectionate disposition 

 and wonderfully intelligent for a chelo- 

 nian. This is an entirely different reptile 

 from any of the foregoing species, its 

 carapace having a conspicuous keel, each 

 shield of which is deeply marked with 

 concentric grooves, giving the while a 

 sculptured appearance as though done 

 with some tool or other. This shell is of 

 a pale earth-brown, with radiating yel- 

 low lines and various spots on each 

 shield. Limbs and top of head dull sal- 

 mon color, or in some specimens a 

 brighter red. 



