CLASS EEPTILIA: OEDEK TESTUDINATA. 



16"/ 



Cistudo virginiana^ Box Tortoise. 



Emydidae.— The Eiver ^a- m. 



Tortoi&e is a commoa 

 North American species. 

 Its sharp-edged jaws are 

 strong enough to bite asun- 

 der a stick half an inch in 

 diameter. It is fond of 

 water-fowl, swimming be- 

 neath the surface and 

 quietly dragging them un- 

 der. About June 10th, in 

 the temperate climates, it lays thirty to fifty spherical eggs. 

 Pig 2,g For their reception, a 



hole is scooped in the 

 sand by the hind feet, 

 and then smoothed 

 over and left. This en- 

 tire work is done within 

 fifteen or twenty min- 

 utes. The eggs are 

 hatched by the heat of 

 tlie sun in about three months, when the young immediately 

 take to the water. 

 Chelydidse. — The Bearded Tortoise is at once the type 



Chelpdra t 

 Eiver Tortoise, " Snapping Turtle." 



matamata. Bearded Tortoise, South America. ^. 



and the grotesque member of this aquatic family. Its flesh 

 is highly prized. 

 Trionychidae.* — The Fierce Trionyx is destructive to 



* For an interesting account of the great fresh-water tortoise read Bates's " The 



Naturalist on the Amazon." 



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