HABITS OF THE BOX TORTOISE. 61 



the attainment of full growth the shell is corrugated by numer- 

 ous concentric ridges. As a new one is formed every year, the 

 age of the tortoise may be obtained by counting these ridges, 

 provided it be not full grown ; for in old age the shell becomes 

 smooth and polished. Some are of a brownish horn color streaked 

 with rich yellow, others are black covered with oval yellow spots. 

 The color of the legs and head varies from dark brown to bright 

 yellow. Frequently the old males have blood-red eyes, which give 

 them a ferocious appearance. 



The box tortoise is most commonly to be met with in shady 

 places, near the borders of woods; or near damp or marshy 

 ground, where worms and insects abound. The tortoise has quite 

 an aversion for wet places, and, although it is a fairly good 

 swimmer, and can remain for over twelve hours beneath the sur- 

 face without once coming out to breathe, it is rarely to be found 

 in the water. In May and early summer it deserts the shade of 

 the woods where it has spent the winter, and moves into the open 

 meadows, Avhere the fresh young grass is becoming thick and 

 high, myriads of insects are waking into life, and the wild straw- 

 berries are beginning to redden. After the pastures are mowed 

 in July the tortoises scatter, some remaining in the meadows, 

 others taking again to the woods. For this reason the animal is 

 much more, rarely met with in August than in June. 



Owing to the extreme slowness and deliberation of all its 

 movements, it seems wonderful that it can obtain enough to eat. 

 Often it will hesitate for a full minute, on finding an insect, before 

 summoning up enough resolution to seize it. The neck is slowly 

 stretched forward, the jaws open and close upon the victim, and 

 the head is immediately snapped back as though frightened at 

 what it had done. Deglutition is accomplished by a series of 

 gulping movements, which often cause a squealing sound. Its 

 food consists of crickets, grasshoppers, caterpillars, worms, and, in 

 fact, almost any luckless insect' which it may find. It is very par- 

 tial to wild strawberries, tomatoes, and many fungi. There can 

 be no doubt that it greatly aids the farmer by destroying the 

 larvse of injurious insects. In seeking its food the tortoise wan- 

 ders about in the most zigzag courses imaginable. A whole day's 

 wanderings, of over half a mile, may not cover more than a quar- 

 ter of an acre. Our little friend rarely wanders far from the 

 place of his birth. In the month of May, 1880, a dozen tortoises 

 found in a three-acre pasture were marked by the writer. Every 

 year they return to the same meadow, so that in 1889 eight of 

 them were identified. The most erratic individual was found half 

 a mile from the meadow, six years after being marked. The tor- 

 toise is very generally distributed over the United States east of 

 the Mississippi, but its local distribution is variable. In some 



