THE LANDING. 249 



for hibernation, and the process in each case was pre- 

 cisely the same. The animal chose a spot at some dis- 

 tance from any tree, as though desirous of escaping 

 contact with roots as it descended into the earth. "With- 

 out protruding its head, the tortoise first dug a shallow 

 pit but a mere trace larger in circumference than its 

 shell. The fore -feet only were used to displace the 

 earth, but with its hind-feet, at times, it would effectu- 

 ally scatter this loose earth in every direction. When 

 the depth of the pit was such that the animal could no 

 longer dig without standing on its head, it rested upon 

 all-fours in the shallow pit, and commenced immediately 

 the task of lowering itself still deeper into the earth. 

 By exercising great care, I was enabled to see the be- 

 ginning of the work, and the same method was doubtless 

 continued unto the end. By a vigorous scratching with 

 all four feet the earth beneath the creature's plastron 

 was first brought to the sides of the little pit, and then 

 slowly was pushed upward until it formed a rim of sand 

 about the margin of the carapace. There was a slight 

 sidewise dipping motion of the creature's body all the 

 while, but I judged that by the feet alone it not only 

 loosened the earth beneath but worked it upward. How- 

 ever this may be, the quantity of this displaced earth 

 was gradually increased until the tortoise disappeared. 

 Just a day later I dug down to the animal and found 

 that it had gone to a depth of fifteen inches, and the 

 earth displaced and scattered was not one-twentieth of 

 what it had actually removed from beneath and worked 

 above it in the manner I have described. 



Here was a case where an animal buried itself with- 



