THE POND TURTLE. 189 



foot or by the neck. Sometimes a wicker pot or 

 creel, made on the same principle as a wire mouse- 

 trap, is set, which allows the ingress, but precludes 

 the return of the animal. 



A young one of this species, a pretty, brightly- 

 marked little thing, much flatter than the adult, and 

 about as large as the palm of one's hand, I brought 

 alive to England in a chip-box. In this its prison, 

 whose walls it could feel all around at the same 

 moment, it performed its voyage of transportation, 

 without food ; and arrived in good health. Through 

 the remainder of the summer and autumn it was 

 lively, and was often indulged with a swim in a tub 

 of water, which it evidently enjoyed. The instinctive 

 stratagem by which the species takes its prey was 

 well exemplified in the manners of this infant Turtle. 

 On my dropping a small earthworm, or a little piece 

 of meat into the water, the animal, on being aware 

 of its presence, would creep with the utmost slowness 

 and caution towards it, until within reach ; then, 

 quick as lightning, the head was darted out, and as 

 suddenly retracted, bearing the morsel in the horny, 

 beak-like jaws, to be swallowed at leisure. 



This specimen, kept in a box in a warm corner of 

 the kitchen, lived through the coldest part of the 

 winter ; but died at last about the end of February, 

 after a sojourn here of nearly seven months. 



Along with the above described, frequenting the 

 same situations, having the same habits, and nearly 

 equally common, another species is taken, E. rugosa, 

 distinguished by having the pale-yellow plates of the 

 sternum each edged with a broad border of dark 



