162 



fourth (ji All examined was found to contain tliem, while the number 

 that had eaten insects was still larger, being about 53 per cent, of 

 all those that contained food. 



Two had eaten birds but they were not in condition to be de- 

 termined. It is of course possible that the birds were found dead 

 as it is known that turtles are valuable and important scavengers. 

 It is scarcely to be thought that such slow creatures as turtles could 

 capture and kill the birds. 



Special records of our examinations of specimens are as follows: 



Our No. 6593c contained thirteen sawfly larvte, two species of moth 

 larvae, one millipede, fragments of several beetles, two slugs, and 

 possibly hundreds of rudimentary "plates" of slugs. 



Of twenty-one specimens examined and showing comparison in the 

 records, sixteen had the major part of stomach contents vegetable, 

 five animal. 



Of course those that live in water are reported to readily take 

 water fowls, especially young ducks and goslings. However this 

 charge is not yet proven against the Wood Turtle, the Snapper being 

 the chief culprit in this regard. 



Mr. Vincent, of White Marsh, Md., reported to us in the early part 

 of December, 1906, that turtles ate off the flower buds of his water- 

 lilies in ponds. The species doing this work he called the "Shovel 

 or Slider Turtle," which would no doubt be the Wood Turtle. 



Following is the food chart from our laboratory dissections of 

 Clemmys insculptus (No. with food 26). 



No. Per Cent. 



Vegetation, 20 76.9 



Cryptogams, (Flowerless Plants), 1 



Fungi — 



Basidiomycetes, ; . . . 1 3.8 



Toadstools, 1 3.8 



Bryophyta, (Mosses), 1 3.8 



Jungermannia, 1 3.8 



Phanerogams, (Flowering Plants). 



Undetermined flowering plants, J.3 49.9 



Seeds, 9 34 . 8 



Asinina triloba, (Papaw fruit), 1 3.8 



Ilex verticillata seeds, (Holly), 2 7.6 



Vitis labrusca, (Fox Grape), ' 1 3.8 



Clover, 1 3.8 



Fragaria sp., (Strawberry, fruit and seeds),. .. . 1 3.8 



Rubus sp., (Blackberry) seeds, 1 3.8 



Pyrus sp., (Apple) fruit, , 1 3.8 



Hedera hirsuta, seeds, 1 3.8 



Sambuous canadensis fruit, (Elder), 1 3.8 



