THE LAND TORTOISES AND TERRAPINS 2407 



in Berlandier's tortoise ( T. berlandieri ) , from Mexico and Texas, the shell is pro- 

 portionately shorter, the beak is hooked, and the fore-limb widest at the elbow. 

 These species are all of small size, not exceeding ten inches in length. 



The Brazilian species (7! tabulata), figured above, represents a 

 ra ~' a group by itself, of which the distinctive characteristics are as follows: 



The carapace is much elongated and somewhat depressed, with its 

 margins not everted, its general color being dark brown or black, with a yellowish 

 centre to each of the shields on the back. The nuchal shield of the carapace is 

 wanting; while in the plastron the gular shields, although well developed, are pro- 

 longed anteriorly into hem-like processes. The head and limbs are marked with 

 orange or red spots, on a dark ground. This handsome tortoise, which attains a 

 length of nearly twenty-two inches, is an inhabitant of tropical South America, to 

 the east of the Andes, and also of the Windward islands, ascending to an elevation 

 of about two thousand feet. In many wooded districts it appears to be very abun- 

 dant, feeding not only on leaves and grasses, but likewise on the fallen fruit which 

 is to be met with in great quantities. In the hot season it constructs a nest of dry 

 leaves, wherein are deposited its eggs, which may be a dozen or two in number. 

 When first hatched, the young are of a uniform yellowish-brown color, with their 

 shells still soft. The young, and to a less degree the adults, have, according to the 

 Prince of Wied, numerous enemies. Against the puma and jaguar the stout shell 

 of even the adult seems to be no defense, since, according to native reports, those 

 animals, on finding one of these tortoises, will set it up on end and scoop out the 

 flesh with their paws; while from the occurrence of broken shells in the forest it 

 would seem that in some cases they are actually able to tear the plastron away from 

 the carapace. As the flesh is devoid of smell, it is likewise eagerly sought after by 

 both Indians and Portuguese, who are in the habit of keeping these tortoises 

 known in Brazil by the name of schabuti in stews, where they are fattened for 

 the table. They are also allowed to run about the houses, where they are fed 

 chiefly on plantains. 



The four species belonging to the third group, of which the Bur- 

 mese brown tortoise ( T. emys} is an example, are characterized by the 



Brown 



Tortoise presence of some very large conical, bony, spur-like tubercles on the 



lower portion of the hind-leg, and the circumstance that the length of 

 the union in the middle line of the anal shields of the plastron is considerably less 

 than that of the abdominal shields; the color of the carapace in the adult being 

 either uniform brownish, or yellowish brown closely spotted with black. The Bur- 

 mese brown tortoise, which attains a length of eighteen inches, while agreeing with 

 the species above noticed in the possession of a nuchal shield on the front of the 

 carapace, differs in that the caudal shield at the hinder extremity of the same is 

 divided, as in the terrapins. The shell of this species is much depressed, with the 

 anterior and posterior borders of the carapace serrated; the adult being dark brown, 

 or blackish in color, while in the young the carapace is yellowish brown, with dark 

 brown markings. In addition to the spur-like tubercles on the back of the heel, 

 the whole of the front of the fore-limb is overlain with imbricating bony tubercles, 

 arranged in four or five longitudinal rows, and there are some conical ones on the 



