28 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



confounded with T. ibera, which it greatly resembles, 

 but from which it may easily be distinguished by the 

 absence of the tubercle at the back of the thigh, and by 

 the supracaudal shield being divided into two, instead of 

 single ; the shell is also of a brighter yellow, and the black 

 markings are more sharply defined. 



The Margined Tortoise, T. marginata, is confined to 

 Greece and Sardinia. It has an elongated shell, the 

 posterior margin of which is strongly expanded, and more 

 or less serrated. Black or dark brown is the ground 

 colour of the carapace, each shield bearing a yellow spot. 

 The plastron is yellow, with black blotches. 



The habits of the three European species do not differ ; 

 their pairing season begins in April or May, and lasts 

 throughout the summer. At this period the male becomes 

 very active and excitable, and goes through various antics, 

 repeatedly knocking his shell against that of the female, 

 the latter scratching a hole in the ground, in which she 

 lays three or four hard-shelled, shortly oblong eggs. 

 Adult specimens do well in this climate if given the run 

 of a garden, feeding mainly on grass and dandelion leaves ; 

 they hibernate towards the beginning of October, burying 

 themselves a foot or so into the ground, reappearing the 

 following spring. 



The Starred Tortoise, T. degans, is a very common 

 species in India and Ceylon, but is not frequently seen 

 in captivity, as difficulty, it appears, is experienced in 

 procuring specimens, owing to the fact that the colour 

 blends to a great extent with the rocky nature of the 

 ground upon which it is found. The shell, which measures 

 up to eight inches in length, is very high, with the 



