INTERESTING BEHAVIOUR 



When the animal found that it could remove no more 

 earth, that is to say, at the end of an hour or more, it 

 seemed to be satisfied that the nest was ready, and without 

 changing its position it proceeded to place its eggs inside 

 very carefully (just as you would put hens'* eggs into a 

 basket), using for the purpose first one hind paw and then 

 the other. The eggs, of which in most cases there were 

 nine, had soft shells at first, but they soon became hard when 

 exposed to the air. 



It required about a quarter of an hour to deposit the 

 eggs, and at the end of that time the animal appeared to 

 rest, remaining quite still, with the foot which had been 

 used to put the last egg in place still hanging limply in the 

 nest and the tail drooping in a lifeless manner. After an 

 interval of about half an hour the final and, to all appear- 

 ance, the most arduous part of the work was begun that of 

 filling up the hole and levelling the ground. The earth was 

 placed carefully over the eggs, a handful at a time, the 

 hind limbs being used alternately as before for the purpose. 

 As the hole was gradually filled up the animal strove to 

 press the earth down with the outer edge of her foot. 

 When at length the cavity was quite full she took another 

 rest for half an hour, after which she began beating down 

 the mound of earth and stamping the soil firm and flat with 

 the under side of her hard shell. She raised the hind end of 

 the body and then hurriedly let it drop to the ground again, 

 turning round and round in a circle meantime. She worked 

 very hard and very quickly, indeed you would not have 

 thought a tortoise could move so briskly ; at the same time 

 she did all she could to remove any traces which might have 

 led to the discovery of her nest, and in this she was so suc- 

 cessful that if the spot had not been marked, it could not 

 have been detected the following morning. 



62 



