THE MUD TORTOISE. ' 15 
'l 
horn-colored lines and spots ; the nnder shell yellow, with large black blotches ; the throat 
striped green ; shell eight inches in length. 
The Elegant Terrapin (P. elegans ) is a Western species, being confined to the region 
east of the Rocky Mountains as far as Illinois. The colors are brown with heavy lines and 
blotches ; a blood-colored band on each side of the neck. The under shell is yellow, with 
a dusky blotch on each plate. 
The Rough Terrapin (P. scabra) is found along the shore from Virg inia to Florida. 
It is dark brown with yellow stripes ; under shell yellow, with small black blotches in front. 
Length of shell, eight inches. 
A number of other species are enumerated as North American, and recorded in the list of 
North American Reptiles at the close of this volume. 
The Small Mud Turtle ( Cino sternum pennsylvanicum ) is found abundantly in New 
York, and southward to Florida. The family and generic names indicate the fact that it has 
a movable sternum. The shell is dusky-brown ; the head and neck with light stripes and 
yellow dots. In some localities it is called Small Box Turtle. It abounds in muddy ponds 
and pools, living on fish. Length of shell, three and a half inches. 
The Musk Turtle ( Aromochelys odorata). Abundant in eastern United States, and west- 
ward to Indiana. Its exceedingly potent musky odor quite distinguishes it. Shell, three and 
a half inches in length. 
The Little Musk Turtle (A. carinata) is found in the Mississippi region. 
The common Mud Tortoise, so called from its mud-haunting propensities, is an example 
of rather a curious 
genus of Tortoises, in- 
habiting America. 
It is an odd little 
creature, being when 
adult not quite four 
inches in length, and 
moving with moderate 
speed. It is mostly 
found in ponds and 
muddy pools, where 
it feeds upon fish, 
aquatic insects, and 
similar diet, catching 
even active fish 
without muc diffi- 
culty. I lately sav 
some aquatic Tortoises, 
which I think belonged 
to this genus, which 
had to be ejected from 
a large basin of a foun- 
tain because they killed 
the newts which in- 
habited the same locality. Tb movements in the water were so deliberate that it was not 
until they were detected in th. ery act of biting the newts that their delinquencies were dis- 
covered, Their mode of attae k was simply to creep under their victim as it balanced itself 
MUD TORTOISE. — Ginosternum pennsylvanicum. 
