40 



TORTOISES, TERRAPINS, AND TURTLES 



to leave the water, and can remain submerged, without breath- 

 ing, for periods which are so long we can only describe them 

 as "indefinite." In its home this burly reptile feeds upon 

 fish, frogs and other water animals. 



THE SNAPPING TERRAPIN, or SNAPPING "TURTLE,"* which 

 is found in the northern states as well as In the South, is a 



ALLIGATOR TERRAPIN. 



very cross-tempered and savage understudy of the preceding 

 species, and it is ugly in more senses than one. It has a 

 humpy, moss-covered back, a mean eye, a dangerously sharp 

 and hooked beak like a horned owl and a tail that reminds 

 one of the terminal half of a bloated water moccasin. 



This reptile seldom leaves the waters of the ponds in 

 which it lives. It believes most thoroughly in the survival 

 of the fittest, and to it the Fittest is "Number One." It is 



1 Che-ly'dra ser-pen-ti'nd. 



