42 REPTILES OF THE WORLD 



ilar dimensions, purchased from the same lot of tor- 

 toises by Mr. Rothschild — an authority on these crea- 

 tures — was pronounced by him to be at least four 

 hundred years old. Testudo nigrita, an allied and 

 smaller species, has a flatter shell. 



Testudo ephippium, of the Galapagos Islands, is 

 remarkable in having a dome-like shell, the front margin 

 arching sharply, high above the animal's head. In spite 

 of the reptile's ponderous appearance, the shell is very 

 thin, in fact, so pliable that it may be pressed inward, 

 in the central portions of the shields, and simply by the 

 tip of a man's finger. 



Testudo elephantina inhabits the Aldabra Islands — 

 in the Indian Ocean. The head is very small and on 

 a long, almost snake-like neck. This tortoise has a 

 decidedly convex shell. An example in the New York 

 Zoological Park weighs 240 pounds. 



Many times has the writer been surprised to note the 

 sagacity of these cold-blooded creatures. They soon 

 learn to recognize their keeper and come lumbering to 

 him as he enters their enclosure — the interest prompted 

 mostly by appetite. Rearing their long neck upwards, 

 they will take bananas from the man's hand. Rather 

 averse to undue familiarity, they resent an attempt to 

 touch their head by suddenly drawing back that member 

 and emitting a hoarse exhalation of air; yet they are 

 never hostile, though their knife-like jaws could easily 

 crush a man's hand. 



During the time of love-making the male behaves in 

 a curious fashion. He stalks about the female in a 

 circle, frequently stopping in a position facing the side 

 of her shell. Here he raises as high as his stubby limbs 

 will permit and batters his shell against her, repeating 

 the operation a dozen times or more. This is supposed 



