400 THE COMMON LAND TORTOISE. 



withiu itself all the niuscks and the viscera, and in most cases can 

 receive into its cavity the head, neck, and limbs, in one genus so effect- 

 ually that when the animal has withdrawn its limbs and head, it is 

 contained in a tightly-closed case without any apparent opening. 



In the true Tortoises the feet are club-shaped and the claws blunt, 

 and the neck can be wholly withdrawn within the shell. 



Perhaps the best-known species of these creatures is the Common 

 Land Tortoise, so frequently exposed for sale in our markets, and so 

 favorite an inhabitant of gardens. 



This appears to be the only species that inhabits Europe, and even 

 on that continent it is by no means widely spread, being confined to 

 those countries which border the Mediterranean. 



It is one of the vegetable feeders, eating various plants, and being 

 verv fond of lettuce-leaves, which it crops in a very curious manner, 

 biting them off sharply when fresh and crisp, but dragging them asun- 

 der when stringy by putting the fore feet upon them and pulling with 

 the jaws. This Tortoise will drink milk, and does so by opening its 

 mouth, scooping up the milk in its lower jaw as if with a spoon, and 

 then raising its head to let the liquid run down its throat. 



One of these animals, which I kept for some time, displayed a re- 

 markable capacity for climbing, and w-as very fond of mounting upon 

 various ailicles of furniture, stools being its favorite resort. It revel- 

 IlmI in warmth, and could not be kept away from the hearth-rug, espe- 

 cially delighting to climb upon a footstool that generally lay beside the 

 fender. 



Tliis Tortoise had a curious kind of voice, not unlike the mewing of 

 a little kitten. The Common Tortoise is known to live to a great age. 

 Another specimen, a very large one, has been in my possession for 

 several years. At the end of autumn it burrows under a heap of leaf- 

 mould, and waits there until the warm days of spring. It feeds mostly 



on grass, and eats its way in a line, leaving 

 a groove of cut grass to mark its track. 

 With the exception of strawberry-eating, 

 it does no harm in the garden. It has a 

 - most inexplicable objection to rain, of 

 1 which not one drop can penetrate its 

 ; shell ; and whenever a shower comes it 

 ; makes its way to an earth-bank, forces 

 itself partly into the loose soil, and re- 

 CoMMON Land Tortoise mains there with retracted head and 



^^ e now come to a group of Tortoises called Terrapins. 

 These creatures are inhabitants of the water, and are found mostlv in 

 rivers. They are carnivorous in their diet, and take their food while 



