1837.] of Central India. 691 



coarse tall grass, she began to moisten the earth with water which 

 she produced from the anus, and then with the strong horny toes of 

 her hind feet, proceeded to scrape away the mud she had made. She 

 used her hind feet alternately, and as she proceeded the water con- 

 tinued to be supplied drop by drop, so as to render the earth a thick 

 muddy consistency and easy to be scraped out of the pit she was 

 sinking. 



In about two hours she had succeeded in making a hole six inches 

 in depth and four inches in diameter. In this she immediately de- 

 posited her eggs, four in number, filling up the hole again with the 

 mud she had previously scraped out, and then treading it well in and 

 stamping on it with her hind feet alternately, until it was filled to the 

 surface, when she beat it down with the whole weight of her body, 

 raising herself behind as high as she could stretch her legs and then 

 suddenly withdrawing them, allowing herself to drop heavily on the 

 earth, by which means it was speedily beaten flat, and so smooth and 

 natural did it appear that had I not detected her in the performance 

 of her task I should certainly never have noticed the spot where her 

 eggs were deposited. She did not immediately leave the place after 

 finishing her work, but remained inactive, as if recovering from her 

 fatigues. 



In about four hours she had dug the hole, deposited her eggs, 

 replaced the earth, and retired to feed. 



The length of time required to bring the eggs to maturity cannot 

 be ascertained however, as the males continued to have free inter- 

 course with her during the whole period of the rains, which as I have 

 already stated, was from the latter end of June, to the middle of 

 October; therefore she may have conceived any time during that 

 period. 



The female considerably exceeds the male in size and can moreover 

 be distinguished by the flatness of the under shell, whereas the male 

 has that part very concave, and indeed without this formation he 

 would be unable to couple with the female from the convex form of 

 her carapace. 



As they are constituted however, the concavity of his under shell, 

 corresponds to the convexity of the upper shell or carapace of the 

 female. The flattened form of the plastron of the female, may 

 possibly be for the purpose of giving greater internal space for 

 the ova. 



As the cold season approached they became more sluggish, seldom 

 leaving their retreats, and at the beginning of December 1S33, they 



