Grass id <$reen 



but the turtle often has occasion to suddenly dis- 

 appear; and, too, without roiling the water or 

 leaving much of a trace of its whereabouts. In all 

 this, it succeeds admirably j so completely, indeed, 

 that unsuspecting prey is often seized and given 

 just enough time to wonder what had captured it. 

 This particular turtle scattered a great host of little 

 minnows, not attempting to catch any of them, 

 but looking for what matter of food had at- 

 tracted them. So, at least, I interpreted its pur- 

 poses. Finding nothing, it started off and met 

 another, not of its kind, but a turtle that has the 

 merit of gay decoration, and so is known as the 

 painted one. These two creatures looked intently 

 at each other as if they questioned each other's 

 right to be there, and, human-like, I hoped for a 

 fight, and was disappointed. It is not always so. 

 The huge 'snappers occasionally get into a row^ 

 and there is a grand commotion. I have known 

 battles commenced under water to be continued 

 on land. 



The water turtles probably are not as long-lived 

 as the quaint box tortoise of the upland fields. 

 Some years ago I found one that I knew was over 

 sixty years old, and since then have had given me 

 the particulars of another instance where a turtle, 

 marked in 1812, was in the possession of a grand- 

 son of the man who marked it ; the animal being 

 alive and about as active as half a century ago. 

 The snapping turtle, of course, grows to be very 

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