140 Journal of the Mitchell Society. [Dec. 



of our water-turtles, which mainly remain in the shell till 

 the next spring - . The eggs which I have dug" up in October 

 with young in them ready to hatch are about the size and 

 shape of the eggs of Deirochelys and like them are soft 

 shelled. 



I had the pleasure of examining last spring- the eggs of the 

 Painted Turtle (C/irysemys fticta) in situ. The "nest" was 

 situated on a sloping hill-side a little above the reach of the 

 inundations of Walnut Creek, and consisted of a hole in the 

 hard ground in which three eggs had been laid, and the 

 entrance had then been filled with earth and this pressed 

 down hard by the animal's feet. The earth was not in contact 

 with the eggs, which were loose in the cavity below. 

 Externally the nest looked as if some one had thrown a little 

 "pat" of wet clay on the ground and it had dried there. The 

 dirt was so hard it was quite difficult to dig through it to 

 the eggs. 



The eggs of Kinosternon on the other hand have the earth 

 packed down hard on them and the entrance to the nest is 

 closed so as to leave a slight depression. 



With regard to Lizard eggs Sceloporus lays its eggs in lots 

 of 10 or thereabouts, while the Sand Lizard only lays three 

 at one time. 



