Reptiles 



The feeding habits of the edible turtle are worth 

 passing- notice. This creature feeds on a sea plant, and 

 feeds on it voraciously, but the plant grows in shallow 

 water and shallow water spells danger to the turtle. 

 Having taken his fill, therefore, the ingenious turtle chops 

 up more of the favoured plant with his scissor-like jaws, 

 and mixes the chopped pieces with mud ; this mud or 

 vegetable mixture is then rolled into a ball about the size 

 of one's head and floated out to sea to form a food supply 

 to which the turtle may turn in time of need. 



Some tortoises live in burrows after the manner of 

 rabbits. The American gopher-tortoise is a case in 

 point ; in the dry, sandy southern states it is plentiful, 

 living in regular warrens. Each burrow is sharply 

 oblique for a yard or so, and then slopes more gently ; 

 at the entrance there is always a little mound of sand, 

 thrown up by the tortoise during its tunnelling exploits. 

 The end of the gopher-tortoise's burrow is a roomy 

 chamber lined with branches of fir-trees which have been 

 dragged in for food and warmth. A single pair of 

 tortoises inhabit each burrow, and they subsist on the 

 resin from the fir-trees. At nesting-time a new chamber 

 is formed for the reception of the eggs, not at the end of 

 the burrow as might have been expected, but near the 

 entrance. 



Large numbers of these tortoises are captured by 

 digging holes of considerable depth just outside the 

 entrances to their burrows. Into these holes the un- 

 suspecting beasts tumble when they sally forth to take 

 their walks abroad. There is nothing very remarkable 

 about the burrows of the gopher-tortoise, but we have 

 mentioned them because the burrowing habit is peculiar 

 among these creatures, at least as a permanent institution. 

 Many tortoises, however, hide themselves below ground, 

 there the better to enjoy their winter sleep. Selecting some 

 soft ground, towards autumn, operations are begun. The 

 tortoise, as may be imagined, is not prone to hurry. 



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