SIXTH ANNUAL REPORT. 125 



the other of the participants sometimes trumpeted in loud, shrill 

 fashion. 



Since their arrival at the Park the tortoises have been fed lib- 

 erally on green food, which they eat greedily. Their bill of fare 

 has been exceedingly varied in character, changing according to 

 different products in season. From the time of their arrival in 

 July up to December 31st they consumed over three thousand 

 pounds of vegetables and fruit. This consisted during the sum- 

 mer months of watermelons, muskmelons, bananas, tomatoes, 

 squashes, cabbages, carrots, lettuce, beet tops and corn tops ; dur- 

 ing the fall and winter months they are given pumpkins, squash, 

 lettuce, celery, chickory, carrots, and cabbage. This list is ex- 

 clusive of the large quantities of grass given them during the 

 summer. 



When the tortoises arrived at the Park, the largest specimen, 

 christened " Buster," was weak and inactive. He could get about 

 only by dragging his heavy shell along the ground, a few feet at 

 a time, and then resting before going farther. At first the writer 

 was led to believe that the specimen was too old and feeble to raise 

 his heavy shell clear from the ground and move about with the 

 agility of his associates. But this belief, happily, was found to be 

 incorrect. Upon a diet of luxuriant meadow-grass and clover, 

 together with melons and the like, " Buster " grew steadily strong- 

 er, and in the autumn it was noticed that he began to move about, 

 like his younger companions. 



When pumpkins came in season and were ofifered, the reptiles 

 attacked them with enthusiasm. So fond were they of this vege- 

 table, that the arrival of the feed-cart containing them was the 

 signal for the gathering of " Buster " and his companions around 

 their keeper, the five pairs of beady, black eyes following every 

 motion as the pumpkins were cut in halves and laid in the heavy 

 trays. 



As an instance of reptilian appetite, it may be interesting to ex- 

 plain, that during the summer months, " Buster," unaided, usually 

 consumed two large watermelons at a meal, not a vestige of the 

 melons being left uneaten. At each mouthful of the succulent 

 fruit the reptile's mouth would stream with the juices. Oddly 

 enough the big fellows appeared after a meal of this kind, their 

 heads and feet plentifully besmeared with remnants of the feast, 

 as with an air of profound satisfaction they lay quietly blinking 



