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The Living Animals of the World 



again, or, where the ground is rocky, drops them indiscriminately in any crevice or depression 

 encountered. The eggs are white, spherical, and hard-shelled, as in all tortoises, and somewhat 

 exceed those of a hen in bulk. 



The very antithesis of the giant land-tortoises of the Galapagos Islands is the small and 

 familiar GRECIAN TORTOISE, frequently exposed for sale on hand-barrows in the London streets, 

 and acquired by the unsophisticated suburban resident as a quaint but not altogether 

 estimable garden pet. Like the majority of tortoises, this is a vegetarian, and with epicurean 

 tastes that will guide it instinctively to select your choicest lettuces and the gems of your 

 horticultural triumphs for the delectation of its fastidious appetite. The Grecian tortoise rarely 

 exceeds 5 inches in length, and is abundant throughout South-eastern Europe. Sicily, Italy, 

 and the Grecian Archipelago, extending thence to Syria. In Algeria an almost identical 

 tortoise occurs which grows to the greater length of 9 inches; while Greece produces yet a 

 third form, the so-called MARGINED TORTOISE, which attains the greater length of 11 inches, 

 and is distinguished by the colour of the carapace usually being black, with a small spot of 

 yellow on each shield-like plate. All three of the foregoing species are collectively imported 

 by shiploads for sale in England, and it would be interesting to know what fate befalls 



them. In Greece and Sicily they are 

 regularly placed on the market as an 

 article of food. When acclimatised in 

 England, and even in their warmer native 

 country, these Grecian tortoises bury them 

 selves in the earth and hibernate during 

 the cold winter months. 



Next to the typical Land-tortoises 

 the so-called HINGED TORTOISES demand 

 brief notice. The several members of 

 this little group are denizens of tropical 

 Africa, and notable for the circumstance 

 that the hinder portion of their carapace 

 united with the anterior one by a 



is 



Photo by S. G. Payne & Son, Aylesbury, by permission of Hon. Walter Rothschild, 



ELEPHANT-TORTOISE. 

 Note the small size of the head with relation to the huge carapace. 



movable ligamentous hinge. As a result 

 of this peculiarity the animal, when 

 retracted within its shell, can entirely 

 close up the hinder aperture. None of 

 these forms exceed a length of 9 inches. 

 In another group, distinguished by the title of BOX-TORTOISES, a ligamentous hinge is 

 developed across the centre of the lower shell, or plastron, which, being freely movable with 

 relation to the upper shell, enables the animal, when retracted, to completely close up both 

 the anterior and posterior carapace apertures. The box-tortoises are natives of the South- 

 eastern United States and Mexico, and, in addition to the foregoing structural peculiarity, 

 are distinguished by the high or vaulted contour of their carapace. In some the toes are 

 slightly webbed, and their habits are mainly carnivorous, indicating affinity with the flesh- 

 eating and essentially aquatic Terrapins. 



Between the two, however, have been intercalated a little group, known as the POND- 

 TORTOISES, one species of which is found in Southern Europe, and a nearly allied one in 

 North America. These pond-tortoises are distinguished by the smooth and depressed form 

 of the carapace; the toes are fully webbed, fitting them for an aquatic life; while a 

 ligamentous hinge, separating the anterior and posterior moieties of the plastron, enables 

 them to cover in and protect their retracted head and limbs, after the manner of the Box- 

 tortoises. The carapace of the European pond-tortoise does not exceed 7 inches in length, 

 and is usually dark brown or black, ornamented with yellow dots or radiating streaks. This 

 species inhabits both ponds and running water, and during the daytime creeps out on the banks, 



