MISCELLANEOUS ANIMALS 41 I 



Most of them are aquatic or semi-aquatic and may be 

 kept in the aquarium. Their habit of crawhng out on rocks 

 and logs to sun themselves should be borne in mind in set- 

 ting up the aquarium for them. As some are terrestrial, 

 a good rule to follow is the one already given for other 

 animals : Study the environment in which they may be 

 found and make that of the aquarium, or vivarium, as nearly 

 like it as possible. Little seems to be known about the food 

 of even the commonest turtles. The aquatic forms — snap- 

 ping turtles, painted and spotted turtles, and the soft-shelled 

 turtles — are carnivorous and feed mainly on fishes, although 

 they often take young ducks and goslings. The fact, as 

 every fisher boy knows to his chagrin, that they are often 

 caught with the baited hook demonstrates their fondness 

 for earthworms, and this is the food u})un which they may 

 be most easily kept in confinement. The box and wood 

 turtles subsist chiefly on worms, slugs, and insects, but 

 also eat succulent leaves. They should be given lettuce 

 or cabbage, together with earthworms, and if some child has 

 a tame turtle, interesting feeding tests may be made. Young 

 turtles will be found to eat mosquito wrigglers with great 

 avidity. 



Not the least interesting things about these queer ani- 

 mals are their nests and eggs. What boy or girl will 

 volunteer to find some turtles' eggs and bring them to 

 school } They may be found, often in great numbers, 

 buried in the sandy banks of ponds or streams. It is said 

 that young turtles as soon as hatched crawl toward the 

 nearest water. Test whether this is true. 



Lizards. — These are different from salamanders, w^iicli 

 they resemble in form, in having the skin covered with 



