20 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



in Siam, resemble both in size and shape those of a domestic 

 fowl. 



Hardella thurgi, which likewise feeds solely on aquatic 

 plants, is, according to Anderson, brought to Calcutta in 

 large numbers during the cold months and sold to a low 

 caste of Hindoos, who keep them alive in tanks, selling and 

 eating them themselves. He gives the following account 

 of the extraordinary manner in which they are captured : 

 " A number of men, all but naked, collect together, each 

 man being provided with a large bundle of green marsh 

 grass neatly tied up in the form of a cylinder, measuring 

 about two feet long. These men enter the water, throwing 

 the bundles before them, which act as floats, and on which 

 each man rests his chest as he gets beyond his depth. 

 Then, one after another, they push away these floats, dive 

 to the bottom of the river, and reappear generally with an 

 example of Hardella obtained in the mud." 



Chrysemys is a large genus distributed throughout North 

 and Central America. The carapace is feebly convex, 

 the plastron is immovable. Although eminently aquatic, 

 frequenting rivers and ponds, and ditches in the case of 

 C. picta^ these terrapins often leave the water, and are 

 most active on land. The soft parts as well as the shields 

 are in most species most beautifully marked. In C. ornatay 

 for instance, the head and neck are streaked with orange, 

 while each costal and marginal shield is provided with a 

 large yellow or orange ocellar spot. These markings are 

 brighter and much better defined in the young than in 

 the adult, where, in a good many cases, they disappear 

 almost entirely. In C. scripta the sides of the head are 

 ornamented with bright yellow, or yellow and pink bands. 



