The Turtles. ' ' 99 



" This turtle grows to be very large. Some 

 have been found more than four feet long. Its 

 shell is so hard, that it will bear the weight of 

 a man. The flesh of snapping turtles is good 

 for food, and they are caught to sell. 



" The sea turtle comes out of the water only 

 long enough to lay its eggs. Its legs are made 

 for swimming, and look like paddles. Its fore 

 legs are much the longer. The legs are so very 

 strong, that the turtles can move through the 

 water like a flash. 



" In the warm days of spring, the turtle lays 

 its eggs in the dry sand. It digs a little hole 

 with its feet, and drops in the eggs. It scratches 

 and smooths the sand over them, so that few 

 people would notice that they had been laid there. 



" It does not stay to hatch its eggs, but leaves 

 that for the warm sun to do. When the eggs 

 are hatched, the baby turtles scratch their way 

 out of the sand and crawl off. 



" The turtles do not like King Winter with 

 his snow and ice ; so they bury themselves in 

 the sand or mud. There they sleep until he has 

 gone back to his home in the far north." 





