THE MUD TORTOISE. 



15 



horn -colored lines and spots ; the under shell yellow, with large black blotches ; the throat 

 striped green ; shell eight inches in length. 



The Elegant Terrapin (P. elegans) is a Western species, being confined to the region 

 east of the Rocky Mountains as far as Illinois. The colors are brown with heavy lines and 

 blotches ; a blood-colored band on each side of the neck. The under shell is yellow, with 

 a dusky blotch on each plate. 



The Rough Terrapin (P. scabra) is found along the shore from Virginia to Florida. 

 It is dark brown with yellow stripes ; under shell yellow, with small black blotches in front. 

 Length of shell, eight inches. 



A number of other species are enumerated as North American, and recorded in the list of 

 North American Reptiles at the close of this volume. 



The Small Mud Turtle (Oinostermwn pennsylvanieum) is found abundantly in New 

 York, and southward to Florida. The family and generic names indicate the fact that it has 

 a movable sternum. The shell is dusky-brown ; the head and neck with light stripes and 

 yellow dots. In some localities it is called Small Box Turtle. It abounds in muddy ponds 

 and pools, living on fish. Length of shell, three and a, half inches. 



The Musk Turtle {Arc/mochelys odorata). Abundant in eastern United States, and west- 

 ward to Indiana. Its exceedingly potent musky odor quite distinguishes it. Shell, three and 

 a half inches in length. 



The Little Musk Turtle (A. carinata) is found in the Mississippi region. 



The common Mud Tortoise, so called from its mud-haunting propensities, is an example 

 of rather a curious 

 genus of Tortoises, in- 

 habiting America. 



It is an odd little 

 creature, being when 

 adult not quite four 

 inches in length, and 

 moving with moderate 

 speed. It is mostly 

 found in ponds and 

 muddy pools, where 

 it feeds upon fish, 

 aquatic insects, and 

 similar diet, catching 

 even the active fish 

 without much diffi- 

 culty. I lately saw 

 some aquatic Tortoises, 

 which I think belonged 

 to this genus, which 

 had to be ejected from 

 a large basin of a foun- 

 tain because they killed 

 the newts which in- 

 habited the same locality. Their movements in the water were so deliberate that it was not 

 until they were detected in the very act of biting the newts that their delinquencies were dis- 

 covered. Their mode of attack was simply to creep under their victim as it balanced itself 



MUD TORTOISE. — dnosterwum pemisylvanicum. 



