﻿418 
  BABCOCK: 
  NEW 
  ENGLAND 
  TURTLES. 
  

  

  in 
  its 
  movements 
  to 
  such 
  an 
  extent 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  not 
  Hkely 
  to 
  move 
  about 
  much 
  unless 
  it 
  can 
  see 
  

   clearly." 
  

  

  His 
  deductions 
  are: 
  "(1) 
  The 
  time 
  spent 
  on 
  the 
  board 
  is 
  shortest 
  for 
  the 
  water 
  species, 
  

   longest 
  for 
  the 
  land 
  species. 
  This 
  indicates 
  that 
  the 
  hesitation 
  in 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  a 
  void 
  

   increases 
  as 
  we 
  pass 
  from 
  the 
  strictly 
  water 
  forms 
  to 
  those 
  which 
  are 
  land 
  inhabiting; 
  (2) 
  Total 
  

   inhibition 
  of 
  the 
  reaction, 
  i. 
  e., 
  failure 
  to 
  crawl 
  over 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  the 
  board 
  in 
  the 
  60 
  minutes, 
  

   appears 
  at 
  a 
  much 
  less 
  height 
  for 
  the 
  land 
  species 
  than 
  for 
  the 
  water-land 
  and 
  water 
  forms." 
  

  

  Food 
  Habits. 
  — 
  The 
  Box 
  Tortoise 
  subsists 
  on 
  a 
  mixed 
  diet, 
  consisting 
  of 
  vegetable 
  matter 
  

   on 
  the 
  one 
  hand 
  and 
  animal 
  matter 
  in 
  the 
  form 
  of 
  insects, 
  snails, 
  slugs, 
  etc., 
  on 
  the 
  other. 
  

   Latham 
  has 
  obsei-ved 
  that 
  it 
  feeds 
  on 
  the 
  mushroom 
  Russula 
  obscura. 
  Surface 
  records 
  the 
  

   stomach 
  contents 
  of 
  forty 
  individuals 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  to 
  include: 
  mushrooms, 
  moss, 
  roots, 
  

   leaves, 
  buds, 
  berries, 
  seeds, 
  grass, 
  blackberry 
  seeds, 
  apple 
  seeds, 
  cherry 
  seeds, 
  sweet 
  cicely, 
  

   wintergreen, 
  ground 
  cherry, 
  birds' 
  wheat 
  moss, 
  earthworms, 
  slugs, 
  snails, 
  crayfish, 
  nulUpedes, 
  

   insects, 
  grasshoppers, 
  crickets, 
  bugs, 
  larvae 
  of 
  butterflies 
  and 
  moths, 
  flies, 
  beetles, 
  and 
  portions 
  

   of 
  mice. 
  Captive 
  animals 
  are 
  practically 
  omnivorous, 
  but 
  are 
  especially 
  fond 
  of 
  blackberries, 
  

   strawberries, 
  and 
  partly 
  decayed 
  bananas. 
  They 
  have 
  been 
  observed 
  to 
  disembowel 
  toads; 
  

   kill 
  and 
  eat 
  small 
  brown 
  snakes; 
  and 
  devour 
  the 
  large 
  black 
  slug, 
  Arion. 
  They 
  drink 
  copi- 
  

   ously 
  of 
  water 
  at 
  times, 
  some 
  animals 
  learning 
  to 
  "seek 
  the 
  neighborhood 
  of 
  sink 
  or 
  faucet, 
  

   and 
  with 
  head 
  erect 
  beg 
  for 
  water" 
  (Sinith). 
  They 
  drink 
  with 
  the 
  head 
  submerged. 
  Captive 
  

   specimens 
  sometimes 
  become 
  so 
  fat 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  impossible 
  for 
  them 
  to 
  close 
  both 
  portions 
  of 
  the 
  

   hinged 
  plastron 
  at 
  once. 
  The 
  tenacity 
  of 
  Ufe 
  of 
  these 
  reptiles 
  is 
  illustrated 
  by 
  an 
  observation 
  

   by 
  Shufeldt 
  (1897) 
  who 
  says 
  that 
  he 
  has 
  kept 
  them 
  for 
  a 
  year 
  without 
  food 
  or 
  water. 
  Box 
  

   Tortoises 
  sometimes 
  come 
  into 
  disrepute 
  with 
  melon 
  growers 
  for 
  biting 
  out 
  pieces 
  of 
  cantaloupes 
  

   as 
  they 
  he 
  on 
  the 
  vines. 
  

  

  Enemies. 
  — 
  Healthj^ 
  adult 
  individuals 
  are 
  practically 
  immune 
  from 
  danger 
  owing 
  to 
  the 
  

   powerful 
  muscles 
  which 
  close 
  the 
  plastron, 
  so 
  that 
  no 
  predaceous 
  animal 
  of 
  this 
  region 
  is 
  able 
  

   to 
  tear 
  the 
  shell 
  apart. 
  Eggs 
  and 
  young 
  animals 
  are 
  devoured 
  by 
  skunks. 
  Ban-ows 
  (1895) 
  

   has 
  reported 
  young 
  Box 
  Tortoises 
  in 
  stomach 
  contents 
  of 
  Crows. 
  The 
  following 
  observation 
  

   was 
  made 
  by 
  DeKay 
  (1842): 
  "It 
  is 
  frequently 
  kept 
  in 
  cellars, 
  under 
  the 
  notion 
  that 
  it 
  drives 
  

   away 
  or 
  destroys 
  rats 
  and 
  other 
  domestic 
  vermin. 
  One 
  which 
  I 
  kept 
  in 
  my 
  cellar, 
  was 
  found 
  

   in 
  the 
  spring, 
  eaten 
  up 
  by 
  the 
  rats." 
  Larvae 
  of 
  a 
  certain 
  species 
  of 
  bot-flies 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  

   in 
  the 
  epidermis 
  about 
  the 
  neck, 
  in 
  Box 
  Tortoises. 
  

  

  Economic 
  Importance. 
  — 
  The 
  flesh 
  of 
  this 
  tiu-tle 
  is 
  edible 
  but 
  is 
  not 
  generally 
  used 
  as 
  food. 
  

   Diu-ing 
  the 
  coal 
  miners' 
  strike 
  of 
  1902, 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Scranton, 
  Pennsylvania, 
  many 
  miners 
  

   roamed 
  over 
  the 
  hills 
  and 
  captured 
  and 
  ate 
  tiirtles 
  which 
  made 
  them 
  sick. 
  It 
  is 
  probable 
  

   that 
  these 
  were 
  Box 
  Turtles, 
  and 
  the 
  flesh 
  may 
  have 
  been 
  rendered 
  temporarily 
  poisonous 
  to 
  

   man 
  from 
  a 
  diet 
  of 
  toadstools, 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  tm-tles 
  are 
  very 
  fond 
  and 
  which 
  does 
  not 
  seem 
  to 
  

   poison 
  them. 
  New 
  York, 
  however, 
  has 
  found 
  it 
  necessary 
  to 
  pass 
  a 
  law 
  for 
  its 
  protection. 
  

  

  