14 
THE YELLOW-BELLIED TERRAPIN. 
The Wood Tortoise ( Chelopus insculpta ) inhabits the States east of the Ohio, in fields 
and woods. Its shell is keeled, its plates marked with concentric strice, and radiating lines. 
A black spot on each scale gives characteristic marking. 
Muhlenberg’s Tortoise (C. muhlenbergii) is the most circumscribed in its habitat , 
being found only in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. It is rare in those places. Its length 
is about three and a half inches. It inhabits small brooks and streams of running water. 
The Speckled Tortoise {Chelopus guttatus ) is found in Eastern United States, and as far 
west as Northern Indiana, where it is abundant. Its main color is black with orange spots. 
The plastron is yellow, blotched with black. This Tortoise is a favorite pet with the small boy 
of New England. 
Branding’ s Tortoise {Emys meleagris) inhabits the moist woods and fields in Wisconsin, 
and eastward to the Alleghanies. Its coloration and markings are somewhat like those of the 
latter. The shell has no keel. 
The Painted Tortoise {Chips emys pieta) is familiarly known in some quarters as the 
Mnd Turtle. It is one of the most common in the Eastern States. It is greenish-black, the 
plates having a paler margin. The marginal plates are marked with bright red, looking much 
as if it were freshly painted. The plastron is yellow, blotched with brown. Its length of 
shell is about six inches. Two varieties are found respectively in Wisconsin and in Western 
New York. 
The Map Turtle {Malacoclemmys geographieus) is singular in its markings, suggesting 
the lines on a map, hence the name. Its locality is the Mississippi River, and northward to 
New York. 
Lesueur’s Map Turtle {M. lesueri) is yet another species, found in Wisconsin and Ohio, 
and from thence southwest. It is much like the preceding, but grayer ; the markings are 
paler and in larger pattern. 
The Salt Marsh Turtle {M. palustris ), called also Diamond-back, is of a greenish or 
dark olive color, with concentric dark stripes along the plates of both shells. It inhabits 
along the coast from New York to Texas. It is found along the northern shores of Long 
Island, where it is called Salt Water Terrapin, and is the justly prized and notable luxury of 
epicures. It frequents low brackish or salt streams near the sea-shore, hibernating in the 
mnd, during the season, from whence it is taken in great numbers for the markets ; it is then 
very fat. 
The Smooth Terrapin {Pseudemys terrapin) is sold in the markets as the same as the 
preceding. It is said that the two are procured from the same localities. DeKay thinks that 
the latter inhabits the salt and brackish waters indifferently. 
Red-bellied Terrapin {Pseudemys rugosa). This is found in the Middle States, from 
New Jersey to Virginia. It is a handsome creature — for a reptile — and is easily distinguished 
by its serrated jaws. As an edible it is somewhat prized. Its length is eleven inches. 
Hieroglyphic Turtle (P. hyeroglyphica). Found quite circumscribed in the Eastern 
States. The shell is smooth, fiat, and olive-brown in color, with broad, reticulated, yellowish 
lines ; the lower is pale yellow ; the head very small ; length of shell, twelve inches. 
Yellow-bellied Terrapin (P. troostii). This species is found in the valley of the 
Mississippi, and northward to Illinois. Its colors are greenish-black, the side-plates having 
