SMOOTH-SHELLED TERRAPINS 



35 



is handsomely and plainly marked by its back of umber brown, 

 and reddish-white mider surface. It is alert and active, its 

 distribution is wide and its flesh is excellent. When you 

 go to a restaurant and order diamond-backed terrapin, at a 

 dollar a plate, you may know to a certainty what you are 

 eating and paying for. Nine times out of ten it is Slider, 

 no more, no less; and 

 a very good dish it 

 makes, too. 



Of the genus to 

 which this animal be- 

 longs, there are in 

 North America at least 

 six other species, all of 

 them habitants of the 

 southern half of our 

 countrj^. The Slider 

 ranges northward only as far as Delaware, and the Susque- 

 hanna River in Pennsylvania, but is frequently seen in the 

 New York markets. Of the terrapins that are in the habit of 

 sunning themselves on logs within diving distance of rivers, 

 creeks or ponds, this species is, I think, the largest we are 

 accustomed to see. Even at quite a distance it can be rec- 

 ognized by the height and narrowness of its shell, as com- 

 pared with species of other genera. 



The Painted Terrapin,^ hitherto called at random the 

 Painted "Turtle" and Pond "Tortoise," is perhaps the 

 most widely distributed species, and the one available to the 



^ Chrys-cm'ys pic'ta. 



P^lNJTD lURILE 

 A good example of the bmooth hhelled Terrapins. 



