146 yournai of Comparative Neurology and Psychology. 



while its large head, its body covered with papillae instead of 

 scales, its dull color, combined with striped neck, and its love for 

 cold water relate it directly to an aquatic environment. I am 

 inclined to believe that Aromochelys is secondarily aquatic, having 

 been driven, through competition, to seek its food in the water. 



During the latter part of April they are seen in large numbers 

 resting amidst the algae at the bottom of the lagoon. They are 

 very inconspicuous when at rest, partly because of their immo- 

 bility and partly because of their dull color. One learns to detect 

 them by the yellow stripe on the sides of the head and neck. 



Later in the season they come to the surface on warm days and 

 float among the pond scums, remaining for hours in apparent 

 stupor. 



When the water of the lagoons warms up in May, they seek the 

 deeper and cooler portions of the lake and are not seen in the 

 lagoons again until late in the fall, when they return in large 

 numbers to hibernate in the soft mud. 



The nesting season begins early in June and lasts nearly the 

 entire month. 



Adult Aromochelys never, so far as my observations go, bask 

 openly out of the water. The nearest approach to true basking 

 is seen when they float on the surface supported and protected 

 from view by pond scums. Even in captivity they never crawl 

 out on objects above the water, except when seeking to escape 

 from an enclosure. The young, however, frequently bask on 

 stones and boards after the manner of other tortoises. 



Aromochelys is a slow, weak swimmer, seldom attempting to 

 swim free from the bottom, but as a rule adopting a compromise 

 between crawling and swimming. The heavy, compact body is 

 evidently a decided hindrance to rapid aquatic locomotion. If 

 startled while at the surface, they drop suddenly to the bottom 

 and use their best efforts to escape. Although their gait on land 

 is unsteady and clumsy in the extreme, they are addicted to more 

 or less extensive journeys on shore. I have caught them at dusk, 

 crawling about in the grass and have seen them catching and 

 eating slugs. On one occasion during a heavy rain I picked up 

 seven full grown Aromochelys along the railway tracks, of which 

 four were males. They were wandering along between the rails, 

 apparently unable to escape. On many other occasions I have 

 caught Aromochelys of all sizes on the roads and between the tracks. 



