194 ANIMAL FORMS 
abundant but now in many regions well-nigh exterminated. 
In these species the tail terminates in a series of horny 
Vie. 116.—Diamond-rattlesnake (Crotalus adamanteus). Photograph by W. H. 
FIsuER. 
~<— 
rings that produce a buzzing sound like that of the locust 
when the tail is rapidly vibrated. 
183. Distribution of the turtles.—The turtles are perhaps 
somewhat less dependent upon warmth than other reptiles, 
yet they too delight to bask in the sunshine, and soon grow 
sluggish in its absence. In all our fresh-water streams and 
ponds they are familiar objects, and several species extend 
up into Canada. Among the turtles the soft shell, the 
painted and the snapping turtles have the widest distri- 
bution, scarcely a good-sized stream or pond from the Gulf 
of Mexico to Canada, and even farther north, being without 
one or more representatives. All are carnivorous and vora- 
cious, and the snapping turtles are especially ferocious, and 
“for their size are the strongest of reptiles.” In the woods 
and meadows the wood-tortoise and box-turtles are occa- 
