132 Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History. 



burrows. During quiet afternoons and evenings the swallows 

 spent a good deal of time skimming the surface of the water of 

 the neighborhood. Among them was noted occasionally, the 

 white-billed swallow {Tachycineta bicolor); but most seemed to 

 be the bank "swallow (Clivicola riparia). There can be no 

 doubt that the destruction of winged insects from the water 

 by the hundreds of swallows annually reared in these banks is 

 very great. 



REPTILES. 



With one exception, serpents, even of the aquatic kinds, 

 were not seen. I presume they are not able to maintain them- 

 selves on the bottom-land during inundations. A single Regina 

 leberis was seen for several days lurking about fish boxes at the 

 headquarters of the Fish Commission. The absence of vegeta- 

 tion may also have had something to do with the absence of ser- 

 pents, since they prefer places in which they are not so com- 

 pletely exposed to observation. The locality was certainly calcu- 

 lated to furnish an abundance of food to the fish-eating species. 



Turtles were present in great numbers. They were espec- 

 ially common in the more retired ])ools when these were first 

 visited. Subsequent visits showed them in diminished numbers, 

 either from their having migrated, or having learned to avoid 

 the seine by burrowing in the mud. The egg-laying season 

 was apparently past, so that no opportunity offered for study- 

 ing the breeding habits of the s]iecies. I am informed that 

 the eggs are sometimes gathered from sandy shores by hun- 

 dreds, and used as food. 



The following brief list includes most of the species of 

 Chelonia which occur in Illinois. Doubtless some of the 

 other Illinois species will also be found here when the locality 

 is more thoroughly explored. 



Paintkd tuuti>e {Chrysonys helli^ Gray). 



This turtle was rather common in the sloughs, but was 

 not seen elsewhere. Adults are not easily distinguished from 

 the related C. maryinatd ; but I believe none of the latter 

 occurred in the sloughs. 



