IX 



TESTUDINIDAE 369 



After some hours' rest they feed again, and in the afternoon, 

 long before sunset, they go to bed. Some winters in England 

 are of course much more severe than any which these tortoises 

 experience in their native countries. Still they manage to sur- 

 vive them, provided they find a place which they can burrow 

 into, deep enough to be out of the reach of frost ; and if there is 

 a heap of mould, rotting weeds, and leaves, they are probably 

 safe. Sometimes they are restless, coming out again in unusually 

 mild winters without, however, taking food. If they appear too 

 early in the spring, they run tlic risk of terrible colds on 

 prolonged wet and cold days, but in tlic autumn they are 

 hardier, and can stand several degrees of dry frost. 



The pairing season begins in May, but lasts far into the 

 summer. In Morocco I found them pairing as late as the 

 month of September. The preliminaries extend over many 

 days. The male becomes unusually active, makes a piping 

 sound, runs after the female, draws in its head, and knocks 

 with its shell against that of the female. This is repeated 

 many times, until the female is excited enough to raise itself 

 upon its hind-limbs. The eggs, only two to four in number, 

 are laid several weeks later, and are buried in the ground. 

 They are roundish-oval, hard -shelled, and vary according to the 

 size of the female. Those of T. graeca measure on the average 

 30 by 24 mm.; those of a large specimen of T. ihera 32 to 

 36 by 30 mm. The newly - hatched little creatures are still 

 quite flexible, and apparently soon bury themselves before Ijc- 

 ginniug their active life in the ensuing spring. 



The age which these tortoises can reach is (T[uite unknown, 

 but there are reliable data of individuals having been kept for 

 many years. Panapf^ kept two T. (jraeca in his garden at 

 Frankfort-on-the-Main, and let them hibernate in a box with 

 hay in the cellar. One lived 33, the other 23 years. The most 

 famous specimen of T. Ihcra is " Gilbert White's Tortoise," " which 

 had been kept for more than 40 years before it came into his 

 possession. It used to bury itself in November and to come out 

 in April. It died in 1704, having reached an age of fifty-four 

 plus an unknown number of years, since there is no record of its 

 size when it came to England. The same applies to every other ^ 

 specimen which has been, and is being, observed as a pet. My 



1 Zool. Garten. 1892, p. 260. ^ Natural History of Sclhorne. 



VOL. VITI 2 B 



