TURTLES AND TORTOISES 33 



ground and against its paws for a full half hour after. 



If a Box Turtle is thrown into the water it floats like 

 a miniature buoy, but is decidedly awkward and hys- 

 terical in gaining the shore. The stubby limbs work 

 spasmodically and progress is usually erratic. 



As the fall approaches, the Box Turtle selects soft 

 ground and commences to burrow. The progress is not 

 hurried ; the reptile may dig but six or eight inches in a 

 week. It literally grovels into the ground, which closes 

 over the back when the animal is but three or four inches 

 down. After the first light frost — barely tinging the 

 surface — the ground becomes chilled and the reptile 

 partly benumbed ; the noon-day sun warms it back to life 

 and with a warning; then it burrows with more energy, 

 sinking to a depth of fourteen to sixteen inches, when 

 the winter sleep begins. 



The eggs of the Box Turtle are oval, with an exceed- 

 ingly thin though brittle shell. Curiously enough, the 

 young are seldom seen ; they are quite flat, with a broad 

 and decided keel. 



The Large Box Turtle, C. major „ is another of the 

 species having four claws on the hind foot. The habitat 

 appears to be restricted to Florida. As examples of this 

 kind have a shell seven inches long, the present species is 

 the largest of the genus. The yellow markings are 

 quite narrow, regular and radiating from the top of the 

 shell. 



The Painted Box Turtle, C. ornata, may be told 

 by the absence of a keel on the carapace. In the shape 

 of bright yellow bars the markings radiate from the cen- 

 ter of the shell. The scales on the limbs are generally 

 tinged with pink. This reptile is found from Indiana to 

 the Rocky Mountains and southward into Mexico ; it has 

 four toes on the hind foot. 



