NATUKAL SCIENCE NEWS. 



71 



Notes on Reptiles. 



Exfoliation of Turtles. With 

 regard to the articles of Messrs. 

 Gibbs and Gaines in the Natural 

 Science News, I can add a few 

 notes of my own. Only a few days 

 ago, I picked np a common Paint- 

 ed Turtle {Chryseinys picta,') on 

 which the horny plates of the cara- 

 pace were so thin that the pattern 

 of the bony plates beneath could 

 be seen distinctly through them; 

 this would point to an analagous 

 case to that mentioned by Dr. 

 Gibbs in regard to a Box Turtle. 



On the other hand, I have no- 

 ticed the horny plates on specimens 

 of both the Painted Turtle and 

 the Rough Terrapin (Eseudemys 

 scabra) to loosen and come off, 

 leaving blighter colored new plates 

 beneath them. 



Food of Turtles: Personally, 

 I can only say that Cinosternum, 

 Chelydra and Aromochclys are car- 

 nivorous, eating anything in the 

 animal line that they are able to 

 capture and also feeding on dead 

 animals of any kind. Chrysemys I 

 think to be at least partially a veg- 

 etarian; some I have now in cap- 

 tivity have apparently eaten Wa- 

 ter Lily leaves;leaves and stems of 

 arrow arum and bullrush leaves; 

 while on the other hand I have 

 never been able to get them to 

 get them to touch flesh. 



Number of Snakes in a Brood; 

 my observations have been mainly 

 confined to the ovo-viviparous al- 

 lies of the Water Snake, and so far 

 they bid fair to give a definite lim- 

 ited number to each species, but a 

 very wide variation for the group. 



For instance, I find the number 

 of developed eggs to be in Eutainia 

 saurita 6 to 8;in E. sir talis 24 to 95; 

 in Storeria dekayi 10 to 25; in Vir- 

 ginia valerez 6 to 7; in Haldea stria- 

 tula 5 to 13; in Nat rise sipedon 30 

 to 50; in Natrix leberis 12 to 22; in 

 Storevia occipitomaculata 12; the 

 largest number I ever took from a 

 snake being ninety-five from a Gar- 

 ter Snake, Eutainia sirtalis a few 

 days ago. 



Notes of Acris.- in reply to a 

 query in Natural Science News, I 

 would say that the notes of Acris 

 gryllus do bear some resemblance 

 to the rattling of pebbles. 



C. S. Brimley, 

 Raleigh, N. C. 



"I never argy agin a success," 

 said ArtemusWard. "When I see 

 a rattlesnaix's hed sticking out of a 

 hole, I bear off to the left, and says 

 I to myself, that hole belongs to 

 that snaix. " 



A Four-Footed Bird. 



That there are still numerous 

 chances for the indefatigable stu- 

 dent and investigator to make new 

 discoveries may be judged from 

 the fact that the only known spec- 

 ies of four-footed bird has been 

 discovered quite recently. 



This curious anomoly, which 

 could very properly be styled an 

 ' " Avis par adoxajis," is a native of 

 the Amazon River country, its 

 principal habitat being the islands 

 of Marajo. It is only during the 

 period of incubation, at which time 

 the little embryo's extra legs and 

 feet are seen at their best, and 

 early bird-hood, that the four- 

 footed feature is at all observable. 

 Like the baby frog, which either 

 "sheds" or absorbs its tail, the 

 four-footed bird rids itself of its 

 useless legs in the same manner, 

 chicks six weeks of age usually 

 being perfectly free fjom any signs 

 of the extra members. The orni- 

 thologists profess to believe that 

 this curious creature is a survival 

 of some past geological epoch. Its 

 scientific name is Opisthoeomus cris- 

 tatus. The natives call it the 

 "hoactzin," which means the"evil- 

 smelling bird. " It is also claimed 

 that there is not a carnivorous ani- 

 mal known that will taste its flesh. 

 — St. Louis Republic. 



Venomous Snakes. 



I notice in the News of May 4th 

 an excellent article by Dr. Morris 

 Gibbs on "Snakes." 



The article should be read by 

 all who have that inborn feeling of 

 dread for all snakes and I am sure 

 a study of our snakes by anyone 

 cannot but interest them, but 

 there is just one point which I 

 think the Doctor has overlooked 

 and that is that there is one veno- 

 mous snake in the United States, 

 which has not the pits in front of 

 the eyes which mark the family 

 Crotalidic. 



I refer to the only representa- 

 tive of the family Elapida which 

 we have in the United States, I 

 think, the Elaps fulvius or Bead 

 Snake which occurs in the South- 

 ern States, none north of Virginia 

 and Arkansas I believe, so that 

 northern observers can safely 

 judge by the presence or absence 

 of the pit. 



J. H. Brown, 

 Iowa City, la. 



Protective Mimicry in Spiders. 



Prof. F. M. Webster in Cana- 

 dian Entomologist for February, 

 1895 describes the mimicing of 

 certain species of spiders — the ex- 

 creta of birds on green leaves. 



I observed last July a case of 

 complete mimicry in the wander- 

 ing or jumping spider Salticus. 



The scene is laid on the side of 

 a corn crib, in the direct rays of 

 the hot sun. Here the flies con- 

 gregate, making a "happy hunt- 

 ing ground" for the fortunate spi- 

 der. The weather boarding was 

 very rough where the saw had cut 

 across the grain which made a 

 partial ambush. The color was 

 light grey, corresponding almost 

 perfectly with the color of the spi- 

 der. The unsuspecting fly would 

 alight near, when with a sudden 

 fleap, the tragedy would end. I 

 watched this spider for a long time, 

 whenever I turned my eyes away, 

 it was several minutes before I 

 could locate him again. At last I 

 tried a trick with him. I caught a 

 fly and pinned it close to the am- 

 bush. The spider began to creep 

 and sidle up to the fly until within 

 safe leaping distance, when he 

 gave the final jump, and grasped 

 the fly. Finding it fast he imme- 

 diately released it and started as 

 fast as his legs would carry him to 

 the other end of the board. A 

 disgusted and tricked spider. I 

 have looked for him since on the 

 same board but never has he been 

 seen from that day to this. Did 

 he die the victim of a practical 

 joke? W. B. Hall, 



Wakeman, O. 



A New and Interesting Fish for 

 the Aquarium. 



Translated from the German of Dr. Ludwig 

 Staby in "Natur and Hans'" by Angus 

 Gaines. 



The aquarium is rapidly grow- 

 ing in popularity and as the num- 

 ber of aquaria increases the num- 

 ber and variety of animals kept in 

 them grow larger and larger. 



Not so very long ago almost the 

 only animals kept in aquaria were 

 goldfishes, but now the goldfishes 

 are being crowded more and more 

 into the background by new acqui- 

 sitions. 



In cities various societies have 

 done much toward making aquaria 

 popular. One of the most active 

 of these societies is the "Triton," 

 of Berlin, which has introduced 



