196 UNDER THE OPEN SKY 



seen him pass fine, firm amanitas as surely 

 as if he knew that death lurked in their 

 hidden cup and beneath their gauzy veil. 

 Three feet farther on he ate of russulas that 

 were certainly not nearly in as fine condi- 

 tion, but which lacked the protecting poison 

 of their more sophisticated relatives. 



The wood-turtle, with his orange legs and 

 the yellow patches on the underside of the 

 shield, neither confines himself so sedu- 

 lously to the water as the spotted tortoise, 

 nor is he so well adapted to land living as 

 the box-tortoise. He has one trick too 

 which often betrays him to his enemies. 

 When the box-tortoise is startled and draws 

 in his head, he usually does so quite quietly, 

 but the wood-turtle cannot refrain from 

 showing his reptilian blood by emitting at 

 times a low but penetrating hiss. This is 

 quite sure to attract attention when, if he 

 had but been silent, he might easily have 

 escaped unnoticed. 



