524 MISS JOAN B. PROCTER ON THE 



(Leopaixl, Ratel, Civet, Mungoose). This was brought home to 

 me very forcibl}'- one night by a Civet entering an adjoining 

 enclosure and eating four and a half young crocodiles in one night. 

 The shell of G. belliana would resist most attacks ; the thickness 

 of their bony defence as seen in a sawn-through section is 

 astonishing. 



" T. loveridgii shows a fondness for climbing up and falling off 

 the rockeries of its enclosure, which pastime, indulged in in its 

 natural habitat, calls for a rapid recovery in turning over ; it also 

 displays great agility in climbing up wire netting. One day 

 eight specimens of the Soft Tortoise succeeded in escaping through 

 a hole in the wire netting ; two were recovered in three days, 

 being found on the second and third days at seme huts 400 yards 

 from the hill. They appear to feed oftener than C. belliana and 

 are quite voracious. They feed well on a succulent grass here ; the 

 previous specimens taken home were fed on lettuce, and when 

 this failed were induced to eat bread soaked in jam. T. loveridgii 

 generally retires to its retreat when a shower comes on, but on 

 occasion I have known the whole lot turn out during heavy rain 

 and feed voraciously, probably being thirsty. 



" I was at first disposed to think that T. loveridgii could not 

 swim, as the first half-dozen arrivals on being placed in water sank 

 to the bottom of the bath and remained there without putting 

 forth any effort. On seeing some young ones struggling in water 

 and trying to swim, I retried a couple of females, which struck 

 out well and kept themselves up when placed in a bowl of 

 water." 



Unfortunately nearly half of these valuable tortoises, kept alive 

 by Mr. Loveridge, succeeded in escaping, several doing so en route 

 to the coast on their way to me. Several spirit specimens also 

 came to grief, but a sufficient number remain, reinforced by still 

 later collections, including a beautiful series of young, to enable 

 a thorough study of this most variable species to be made. 



Bibliography. 



Agassiz, L. 1857. Contributions to the Natural Historj' of tlie United States. 



Vol. i. Part ii. North American Testudinata ; vol. ii. Embryology 



of the Turtle. Boston. (27 pis.) 

 Baub, G. 1890. On the Classification of the Testudinata. Amer. Nat. vol. xxiv. 



pp. 530-536. 



1887. On the Morphogeny of the Carapace in Testudinata. Amer. Nat. 



vol. xxi. p. 89. 



Bemmelen, J. F. van. 1896. Bemerkungen zur Phylogenie der Schildkroten. 



C. R. 3. Congres Internat. de Zool. Leyde, pp. 322-335. 

 BOJANTJS, L. H. 1819-21. Anatome Testudinis EuropajEe. Vilnse, pp. 1-178 



(31 pis.). 

 BoFiiENGEE, G. A. 1889. Catalogue of Chelonians, Rhyncliocephaliaus, and Croco- 



dilians in the British Museum. 



1920. Une Tortue extraordinaire : Tesfndo loveridgii, sp. n. C. R. 



Acad. Sci., Paris, t. 170, pp. 263-265. 



Oakus, C. G. 1827. Comparative Anatomy. Translated by R. T. Gore. Vol. i. 

 p. 147. 



