THE TERRAPINS 



327 



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 belongs, 

 there are in North America at least six other 

 species, all of them habitants of the southern 

 half of our country. The Slider ranges north- 

 ward 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 recognized by the height and narrowness 

 of its shell, as compared with species of other 

 genera. 



The Painted Terrapin, 1 hitherto called at 

 random the Painted "Turtle" and Pond-"Tor- 

 toise," is perhaps the most widely distributed 

 species, and the one available to the greatest 

 number of school-rooms, in the United States. 

 It inhabits the whole region east of the Missis- 

 sippi River except the extreme southeastern 

 states, or about one-half of the entire country. 

 Its shell is from 6 to 8 inches in length, and its 

 contour is rather flat. The plates of the cara- 

 pace are greenish-black, edged with yellow, and 

 those around the margin are marked with bright 

 red. The under shell (plastron) is yellow with 

 brown markings; and the legs and tail are dark 

 brown, marked with bright red lines. The upper 

 jaw is notched in front. 



This small boy's favorite is a very common 

 species, and nine times out of ten when a nice, 

 well-behaved little Terrapin is seen sunning it- 

 self on the hurricane-deck of a derelict log, ready 

 to drop into the water with a gentle plash when 

 Small Boy approaches dangerously near, that is 

 It. It is called the Pond-Terrapin because it 

 dislikes the nerve-wrecking hilarity of a river 

 which rushes past at two or three miles per hour, 

 but prefers a nice, quiet little 4x5 pond, where 

 it can vegetate quite unmolested. In captivity 

 its food consists of chopped fish and meat and 

 angle-worms. 



The Ellachick, 2 of the Pacific slope, from the 

 Sierra Nevadas to the coast, and from southern 

 California to Vancouver, is the most important 

 species in that region. It is good for food, and 



1 Chrys-em'ys pic'ta. 



2 Chel'o-pus mar-mo-ra'tus. 



is frequently seen in the markets of the large 

 cities on or near the coast. It is about the size 

 of the painted terrapin. 3 



The Diamond-Backed Terrapin 3 of the 

 salt marshes is, most unfortunately, famous for 

 the flavor of its flesh, and its association with 

 champagne. From the unlucky day when the 

 epicures of Maryland pronounced terrapin stew 

 a particularly delicious dish, the doom of this 

 species has been sealed. Its price has risen from 

 the original 25 cents each for large ones to $70 

 per dozen for small ones, and the supply is rapidly 

 dwindling to nothing. It is now a difficult mat- 

 ter for a zoologist to procure for exhibition a speci- 

 men that is more than half grown. 



In appearance the Diamond-Back is neither 

 beautiful nor striking, and in flavor I think it 

 has been greatly overpraised. At the same time 



PAINTED TURTLE. 

 A good example of the Smooth-Shelled Terrapins. 



as reptiles go (for human food), its flesh is really 

 very good; but, with all the good things that go 

 into a terrapin stew, and champagne for sauce 

 at three-fifty a bottle, almost any animal would 

 taste good. 



The Diamond-Back Terrapin is a habitant of 

 salt water, and at one time was found in the 

 shallow bays and salt marshes along our Atlantic 

 and Gulf coast from Massachusetts to Texas. 

 Chesapeake Bay has always been a sort of centre 

 of abundance of this species, and when it flour- 

 ished the markets were supplied chiefly from the 

 region lying between New York and Pamlico 

 Sound. 



This Terrapin is small, rather flat, rounded 

 s Mal-a-co-clem'mys pa-lus'tris. 



