COPEIA 43 



At Yaphank box turtles can always be found in 

 considerable numbers during hot summer weather 

 buried to a depth of from six to ten inches in the mud 

 bordering a pool and several springs of a cranberry 

 bog. On short visits to the region, usually two or 

 three days, it could not be ascertained with certainty 

 how long a time the turtles remain buried, yet that 

 it must be for days, and, during prolonged droughts, 

 probably for weeks appears certain, since in many 

 cases observed the entry holes of the turtle burrows 

 had been almost closed through sagging, followed by 

 drying of the mud. From such burrows the turtles 

 could not escape, except by breaking through the 

 crust of mud at the top. 



While the burrowing habit of the box turtle is 

 commonplace and well-known, the gathering of such 

 numbers of this species as witnessed by the writer 

 and Mr. Wm. T. Davis during August, 1913, on 

 Shelter Island, no doubt, is unusual. In a short, nar- 

 row ditch, partly filled with mud and water, we count- 

 ed sixty, without disturbing the turtles, and there 

 probably were as many more packed away in the 

 mud. New arrivals were still coming in from the 

 surrounding wood. 



George P. Engelharbt, 



Brooklyn, N. Y. 



THE BREEDING SEASON OF BUFO 

 MARINUS (L) IN DEMERARA. 



In a recent number of Copeia (February 24, 

 1916) Mr. Austin H. Clark says of the breeding sea- 

 son of Bufo agua (Bufo marinus L.) "appears to 

 breed about the commencement of the rainy season, 

 somewhere in November or thereabouts," crediting 

 this statement to Mr. Gilbert E. Bodkin, Govern- 

 ment Economic Biologist of British Guiana. 



The writer has no data on the habits of the spe- 

 cies in Demerara, except for the months of July, Au- 

 gust and September, but it should be recorded that 



