THE CHICKEN TORTOISE AND THE HAWKSBILL TURTLE. 491 



in the water. They may be known by their flattened heads, covered 

 with skin, sometimes hard, but often of a soft consistency, and their 

 broad feet with the toes webbed as far as the claws. 



The Chicken Tortoise is found in North America. 



It is very common in ponds, lakes, or marshy grounds, and, though 

 very plentiful and by no means quick in its movements, is not easily 

 caught, owing to its extreme wariness. 



The Chicken Tortoise swims well, but not rapidly, and as it passes 

 along with its head and neck elevated above the surface, it looks so 

 like the dark water-snake of the same country that at a little distance 

 it might readily be mistaken for that reptile. 



I have kept several of these reptiles, and found no difficulty in pre- 

 serving them in health. They lived in a tank in which were several 

 large stones that projected above the surface of the water. On the 

 top of these stones the Chicken Tortoises loved to sit, and so exactly 

 did their bodies harmonize with the stones that it was not easy to de- 

 cide at a hasty glance whether the stones were bare or covered with 

 the little Tortoises. At first the least movement or sound would send 

 them tumbling into the water, but after a while they became used to 

 captivity, and would even feed out of the hand. 



Their diet consisted of meat, either raw or cooked. They used to 

 seize it in their mouths, and then, placing a foot on its side, push away 

 the meat, so as to cut a piece completely out with their sharp-edged 

 jaws. They will even seize fish and serve them in like manner, and 

 indeed it is not safe to place them in tanks wherein are any other liv- 

 ing creatures. ' 



It is rather a small species, seldom exceeding ten inches in length. 

 Its flesh is remarkably excellent, very tender, and delicately flavored, 

 something like that of a young chicken, so that this Tortoise is in great 

 request as an article of food, and is sold largely in the markets, though 

 not so plentifully as the common salt-water terrapin. Its color is dark 

 brown above, and the plates are scribbled with yellow lines and wrin- 

 kled longitudinally. The neck is long in proportion to the size of the 

 animal — so long, indeed, that the head and neck together are almost 

 as long as the shell. The lower jaw is hooked in front. 



The well-known Caret, or Hawksbill Turtle, so called frori 

 the formation of the mouth, is a native of the warm American 

 and Indian seas, and is common in many of the islands of those 

 oceans. 



The Hawksbill Turtle is the animal which furnishes the valuable 

 *' tortoiseshell " of commerce, and is therefore a creature of great im- 

 portance. The scales of the back are thirteen in number, and, as they 

 overlap each other for about one-third of their length, they are larger 

 than in any other species where the edges only meet. In this species, 



