150 



aquatic fUU 



1. Gclasimiis sp. (Fiddler Crab) in its garden burrow. 2. Cistiido Carolina (Box Tortoise) 

 eating an earthworm. 3. Chrysemys picta (Painted Turtle) basking in the sunshine. 4. The 

 inscribed plastron of Cistudo. 5. Limax sp. (Garden Slug) with a recently deposited egg mass. 

 Photographs by the author. 



decidedly beneficial. Inasmuch as the 

 garden is small, these items of food are 

 limited, so the tortoises are fed chopped 

 beef, which they seem to prefer after the 

 taste is acquired. It has been said that 

 lettuce, cabbage and milk will be taken, 

 but the present specimens refuse all 

 three. 



The members of the family claim con- 

 siderable intelligence for these reptiles, 

 even insisting that they recognize those 

 who feed them, and, further, exhibit fear 



in the presence of strangers by withdraw- 

 ing into their shells. At any rate, they 

 are always near the house when hungry, 

 departing for the fern bed when satisfied. 

 It is hardly probable that continued series 

 of such coincidences could occur for 

 more than six years without a reason, 

 so it is attributed to their knowledge of 

 the whereabouts of food. In autumn, 

 when the clays become short and the 

 nights chilly, the tortoises make efforts 

 to gain admittance to their winter quar- 



