BOX-TORTOISES. 



67 



.attached to the plastron solely by ligament, so that the whole shell can be com- 

 pletely closed. As a general rule, the upper shell is dark brown or blackish, with 

 yellow spots, or brownish yellow, with dark brown spots or rays, while there 

 may be an interrupted yellow streak down the middle of the back. The plastron 

 may be either a uniform dark brown or blackish, or may have irregular yellowish 

 blotches on a ground or the same, while in some instances it is yellowish with dark 

 blotches of variable size. The range of this species embraces the Southern and 

 South-Eastern United States and Mexico. In the ornate box-tortoise, from 

 Nebraska and some neighbouring states, the shell is more depressed, and the 



Carolina box-tortoise [\ nat. size). 



plastron and carapace are connected together by a very short bony bridge, so that 

 the shell cannot be completely closed. The toes, moreover, have no distinct webs. 



The vaulted carapace of the box-tortoises, with their abruptly descending 

 hinder profile, together with the rudimentary condition of the webs of the toes, at 

 once proclaim the terrestrial habits of these reptiles, which form, indeed, one of 

 the connecting links between the true tortoises and the fresh-water terrapins. 

 Although mainly, if not entirely carnivorous (as is indicated by the absence of a 

 median ridge in the front of the palate), the box-tortoises appear to resemble the 

 true tortoises very closely in their general mode of life. According to some 

 observers, they are more frequently to be met with in dry and even hilly districts, 

 than in swamps. They are, however, partial to spots where colonies of night- 



