32 



underneath much blotched. The males have bright red 

 irides, those of the females are duller in color ; the body is 

 brownish or darker, with often much bright yellow or 

 orange, especially on the scales of the limbs and on the 

 head and neck. The box turtle is found in the United 

 States from the Atlantic coast to the plains west of the 

 Mississippi River. There are several closely allied species, 

 or perhaps only sub-species, in the South and West, the 

 chief one of which has only three toes on the rear feet.- 



The only other species of the genus Cistudo, three in 

 number, occur in the Indian region. 



The box turtle is one of our most common reptiles and 

 is terrestrial in its habits, often wandering a distance from 

 water. It is omnivorous, but seems to subsist largely on 

 vegetable matter. Some of my captives ate lettuce, straw- 

 berries, and above all relished blackberries. One killed 

 and ate a little brown snake. They become very tame, 

 and when thirsty or desiring a bath seek the neighborhood 

 of sink or faucet, and with head erect beg for water. 



The young are seldom found when of a very small size. 



Altogether our local reptilian fauna (omitting the doubt- 

 ful species) is made up of — 



13 Turtles, belonging to 11 genera and 5 families ; 

 2 Lizards, " " 2 " " 2 " 



15 Snakes, 1 " " 13 " " 2 



forming a total of — 



30 species, belonging to 26 genera, 9 families 

 and 3 orders. 



To the north and east of our section their numbers rap- 

 idly diminish, while to the south and west they greatly in- 

 crease, especially in the proportional number of the 

 Lizards. 



1 For the snakes see R. L. Ditmars', " The Snakes found within Fifty Miles 

 of New York Citv." Abstract of the Proceedings of the Linn. Soc. of N. Y. 

 No. 8. 1896. 



