1246 Rural School Leaflet 



(h) Blanding's turtle, or the semibox turtle, is a native of the Central 

 States but is found in Ontario and rarely in western New York. The 

 shell measures eight or nine inches in length, averaging about two inches 

 longer than that of the box turtle, but it is not quite so high. Unlike the 

 box turtle, its feet are fully webbed. The carapace is black with nu- 

 merous small yellowish spots. The plastron has a ligament connecting it 

 with the carapace on each side, and has a good transverse hinge, which 

 enables its owner to close up like a box turtle. The notched plastron 

 and hooked upper beak of the box turtle are not present in the Blanding's 

 turtle. This species is more or less aquatic, frequenting large streams, 

 ponds, and occasionally swampy areas. It often takes to the land like 

 the box tortoise, and relies for protection on withdrawing into its shell. 

 Usually it escapes into the water as readily as a painted turtle, and can 

 swim nearly as well. It probably deposits its eggs in sandy places. 

 Agassiz says that the female la}'s from seven to nine eggs, which are 

 oval, one and three-eighths inches long, and one inch wide. The eggshell 

 is thick, hard, and smooth. 



field mouse 

 A. H. Wright 



The field mouse, or meadow vole, is six and one-half inches in length, 

 and has a thick, compact body, short legs, and very short ears. In color it is 

 dark brown above, sprinkled with black, the under parts gra}', often washed 

 with buff. Field mice are abundant in fields and meadows, and feed 

 mainly on grains and roots of grasses. They make considerable inroads 

 on grain when it is in the shocks, but seldom occur in sufficient niunbers 



to do serious damage. . In win- 

 ter they sometimes injure trees 

 by gnawing the bark, especially 

 when the snow is deep. 



Field mice are active either 

 by day or by night, and re- 

 main on the ground. They dig 

 simple burrows, barely a foot 

 in length, with a nest of grass 

 at the end; or they may have 

 Field mouse galleries under a board or a 



woodpile. They are very pro- 

 lific, having from fotu* to eight young at a time and raising several 

 litters a season. In the spring they nest just below the surface of 

 the ground; later the nest is often found in a little depression on the 

 surface. In winter they live in nests above grotmd, having runways 



