72 SNAKE TORTOISE. 



it being considered as an excellent food. It feed» 

 on aquatic plants, and is said to wander by night 

 to some little distance from the banks in quest of 

 pasture. The specimen above described was a fe- 

 male, and was brought alive to Mr. Bruguiere: it 

 lived for some time on herbs, bread, &c. and layecl 

 five or six eggs, one of which produced a young 

 tortoise in the box in which it was kept. 



It does not appear certam that this species is the* 

 T. scorpioides of Linmieus, since in his very brief 

 description he does not mention the remarkable 

 figure of the snout. 



SNAKE TORTOISE. 



Testiido Serpentina. T. testa ovali depressa, trifariam eonvex&'y 



squamis acvminafis, margine postico rotundato acute serrato. 



Sckoepf, Test ^ p. 28. t. 6. 

 Tortoise with ovate, depressed, trrj^ly carinated, sharp-scaled 



shell, rounded and acutely serrated at the posterior margin. 

 Testudo serpentina. T. pedibus digitati<{, testa svbcarinata, pos^ 



tke obtusa, acute qmnquedentata. Lin. Syst, Nat. p. 354.. 

 Serrated Tortoise. Penn^ Arct^ Z&ol. Suppl.p. gj^ 



This species, first described by Linnaeus, ap- 

 pears to have been very obscurely known ; having 

 been figured in no work of Natural History till 

 it was introduced into Mr. Schoepf 's publication. 

 It is a native of North America, where it inhabits^ 

 stagnant waters, growirg to the weight of fifteen 

 or twenty pounds, and even more, and preying on 

 fish, ducklings, Sec, Sec. seizing its prey with 



