TURTLES, TERRAPINS, AND TORTOISES 29 



lateral margins almost vertical. The ground colour is 

 black, from which numerous yellow lines radiate. The 

 plastron is likewise black, with yellow radiating streaks. 

 According to Hutton, the eggs, four in number, are 

 deposited in a hole in the mud, about six inches deep. 

 This being accomplished, the hole is filled up again with 

 the mud previously scraped out, whereupon the female 

 stamps upon it with her hind feet, until filled to the 

 surface, when she beats it down with the whole weight of 

 her body, raising herself on her hind limbs and suddenly 

 withdrawing them, thus allowing herself to drop heavily 

 on the earth ; by these means it is so effectually beaten 

 down that the spot where the eggs have been deposited 

 is quite undetectable. 



The Radiated Tortoise, T. radiata, of Madagascar, 

 which attains a shell-length of a foot, is black, with large 

 yellow spots, from which numerous bands radiate, a pattern 

 superficially resembling that of the Star Tortoise ; the 

 radiating lines, however, are much broader. This 

 harmless creature is much feared by the natives, who 

 regard it as possessing the " evil eye," and nothing on 

 earth would induce them to touch one, or even its eggs. 



Phayre's Tortoise, T. emys, of the dry forest districts 

 of Siam, Burma, Sumatra, and the Malay Peninsula, is 

 characterized by a depressed shell, the depth of which is 

 less than half its length ; the posterior margins are reverted 

 and somewhat serrated. The limbs are provided with 

 very large, spur-like tubercles, and hence the tortoise is 

 called by the natives of Borneo Kura anam kaki^ which 

 means six-footed, referring to these spurs. The species 

 reaches a large size, the shell of a specimen which has 



