266 



RAMBLES ABOUT HOME. 



in the daytime, I have caught them but very seldom 

 when compared with the frequency with which I have 

 taken the odoriferous musk-turtle ; but when bobbing for 

 eels, or fishing at night, I have often been disgusted at 

 the way in which they seized my hooks. From this sim- 

 ple fact, I believe that they are more strictly nocturnal 

 than the other mud-turtle just mentioned. Here, again, 

 the subject of color comes to the front. This nocturnal 

 mud-turtle has not a vestige of beauty about it. It is su- 

 perlatively homely, and so it is fitting that it should be 

 nocturnal in habit. Possibly, it has greater vocal powers 

 than the others, but this I can not say. Now, on the 

 other hand, the strongly-scented musk-turtle, popularly 

 known by an expressive but scarcely mentionable name, 

 is quite handsomely marked with lines of brilliant yel- 

 low on a black background ; and, furthermore, although 

 a mud-turtle, it is quite diurnal in its habits, and even 

 wanders into the clear waters, where it can exhibit its at- 

 tractions to the best advantage. It can scarcely be mere 

 coincidence, that bright colors and diurnal habits always 

 go together. 



A curious appearance is given to these mud-turtles, at 

 times, by the growth of a grass-like plant over their upper 

 shells, which gently waves to and fro in the water as 

 they move along. This plant does not seem to be affected 

 by the habit of the turtle of burrowing in the mud. It 

 thrives even there, and when the animal emerges from 

 its burrow the plant is quickly freed of all foreign mat- 

 ter by the water, and waves as freely and is as brightly 

 green as before. This same growth is common also to 

 the fierce snapping-turtle, of which more anon. 



Mud-turtles are mere scavengers. Those that I have 

 kept in aquaria would never take living prey ; but no 

 sooner was the fish or frog killed than they would devour 



