Zoological Bulletin of the Division of Zoology of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture . asfood and the great persistence with which it was hunted, it is nodoubt exterminated in our Commonwealth at the present time. 144 The carapace is ovate, broadest behind, margin flaring, notstrongly convex, plates usually with concentric grooves and stripes;plastron covering under surface, plates with concentric grooves andradiating stripes. Color of carapace greenish or dark olive, rarelyblack, the plates sometimes marked at center with yellow. Lowerjaw without spoon-shaped dilation. The Diamond-Bac
Zoological Bulletin of the Division of Zoology of the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture . asfood and the great persistence with which it was hunted, it is nodoubt exterminated in our Commonwealth at the present time. 144 The carapace is ovate, broadest behind, margin flaring, notstrongly convex, plates usually with concentric grooves and stripes;plastron covering under surface, plates with concentric grooves andradiating stripes. Color of carapace greenish or dark olive, rarelyblack, the plates sometimes marked at center with yellow. Lowerjaw without spoon-shaped dilation. The Diamond-Back is found frequently in salt or brackish streamsof the marshes, near the sea shore. It buries in mud in the winterand is taken from the mud in the fall, winter and spring at the timewhen it is fat and in the best possible condition for the table. Theyare now becoming rare and generally some less desirable turtle issubstituted for them, as the price is very high. This has alwaysbeen considered the most delicious of our turtles and in fact one ofthe most desirable kinds of food for Fig. 7. Diamond-back Turtle. Figures showing dorsal, ventral and left sideviews of shell. (One-half size of original.) Drawn by W. R. Walton, in officeof H. A. Surface, State Zoologist. Holbrook says, It lives in salt water and in salt marshes, whereit hibernates; far from these it is never seen. It is timid, easilydisturbed, and hides on least alarm. Swims with great rapidityand moves quickly even on land. Is easily taken at time of egg-laying. Flesh is excellent at all times, but most popular duringhibernation period.—Holbrook, p. 90. It is said that this trutle is systematically reared for market,although it is doubtful if such business would become profitable onaccount of their slow growth and multiplication, as this specieslays only 6 or 7 eggs at a time. It is found in the salt marshes of New Jersey, scarce and ratherdifficult to procure. They crawl out of the creeks on the advent of
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