meee TLES OF THE VICINITY OF NEW YORK CITY 139 
tection in time of danger. When the reptile is annoyed, the 
front and rear sections of the plastron are pulled upwards to- 
wards the carapace, and so closely do the two shells 
come together that it is difficult to insert even a fine 
wisp of straw at any point between them. 
The Box Tortoise lives to great age, as is shown by the fact 
that specimens have been found upon the shells of which were 
names and dates that had been carved there sixty and seventy 
years before. Such tortoises were found near the fields in which 
Box 
Tortoise. 
FIG. 46. BOX TORTOISE ; ON ITS BACK 
they lived when marked, hence the probability is that the ani- 
mal is not a great traveler. During very dry seasons the Box 
Tortoise has been known to abandon the surface of the ground 
and burrow deeply into moist earth or mud. 
Extremely variable in coloration, although the general colors 
are brown or black, irregularly marked with yellow, the species 
is more readily recognized by its form. The carapace is arched 
and high; the limbs are club-shaped and fitted for a terrestrial 
existence. Male specimens may be recognized by a distinct 
concave area on the rear section of the plastron and by their 
