TURTLES, TERRAPINS, AND TORTOISES 23 



blackish brown. The head Is black, with lighter dots, 

 which are usually yellow, and in some males of a pale 

 brown. The shell, which is oval in the adult, round in 

 the young, is smooth, with a few well-marked ridges on 

 each shield. The tail is as long as the shell in the quite 

 young, two-thirds that length in adult males, and about 

 one half in the females. 



This tortoise generally hibernates in the mud at the 

 bottom of the pond or river towards the end of October. 

 The lethargy, especially of those hibernating in shallow 

 waters, is not very profound, and a little sunshine, even in 

 mid-winter, is sufficient to awaken them from their slumbers. 

 They resume their activity towards the middle of March, 

 pairing in April, and depositing up to a dozen oblong eggs 

 in May and June. Adult specimens do well in captivity ; 

 they feed both on land and in the water, usually only upon 

 meat or fish ; I have known specimens, however, to accept 

 lettuce. The quite young, of which such large numbers 

 are annually imported and sold in this country, are, 

 however, exceedingly delicate, and generally succumb to 

 pneumonia after a very few months of captivity. The 

 flesh of this species is said to be moderately good eating, 

 and was formerly appreciated as a delicacy for " fish days " 

 in the Roman Catholic parts of Germany. 



Blanding's Terrapin, Emys blandingi, is a North 

 American species, closely resembling the European Pond 

 Terrapin. The carapace, which is slightly more convex 

 than in the latter species, is jet black, spotted with bright 

 yellow. The plastron is yellow and black. The head is 

 brown above, yellow beneath. Like its European ally it 

 is easily domesticated. It takes to land frequently in 



