NEST HABITS OF BELL’S TURTLE 69 
seconds. The sixth was the last one laid at this time, but evi- 
dently the effort had been made to lay eight or nine. After 
each egg was laid it was arranged in the nest by the right hind 
foot. The process of egg-laying was completed at 9:52, so that 
the entire process took about five minutes and at intervals of 
about thirty seconds for each egg. 
Immediately the turtle began pulling dirt in from the edges, 
the dryer dirt going in first. This was pressed down by the 
hind foot, first dirt from one side and then the other was pulled 
in, each foot being used alternately. She seemed to press the 
dirt down with her knuckles much as we might with a loosely 
closed fist. The wet dirt was the last to be pulled on the nest. 
The softer mud on top was thoroughly kneaded by the knuckles, 
and flattened and packed by rubbing the plastron over it. Dry 
dirt was then scratched in, and grass roots were either acci- 
dentally or purposely kneaded in as though transplanted. It al- 
most seemed to the observer that the turtle made a special ef- 
fort to reach far out for bits of grass and debris to help con- 
ceal her nest. When this was completed the turtle appeared 
startled at our flash light for the first time. It was as though 
she had awakened from a trance. She stretched out her neck, 
looked around for an instant and then hurried away towards 
the lake. It was 10:23 p. m. when she left the nest, so that the 
entire process of nest-digging and egg-laying took over two 
hours. She worked quite vigorously most of the time, but to- 
wards the end she appeared tired and needed to rest frequently. 
On another occasion we found that during the last fifteen or 
twenty minutes of work in concealing the nest the turtle at first 
worked pretty regularly for about fifty seconds and rested ten 
to twelve seconds, and that later the periods of work were short- 
ened and the rest periods became longer. At no time during 
the procedure of nest-digging and egg-laying did the turtle seem 
much disturbed by the presence of three or four observers, even 
when the flash light was held directly in front of her. 
In the ease of one turtle, Professor Larrabee of Yankton held 
his flashlight in front of her after she had left the nest to re- 
turn to the lake. This seemed to produce a sort of hypnotie 
effect, for she would follow this hght whichever direction it was 
