animal's business, which was evidently too pressing to be 
interrupted by such a trifle. When we crowded her too 
closely she would simply draw in her head but before another 
minute had passed she would frequently pop out another egg. 
Yifhen the seventh (or rather eighth) had been laid, the 
Turtle began drawing the loose earth back over the hole and 
packing it down firmly with her hind feet. We had to leave 
her then. 
At 7 P. M. I went back knd met her coming down the 
hillside. When I got to the nest I had to look long and 
carefully before I could find it, although I knew its exact 
position within ten or twelve inches. The Turtle had 
sprinkled over it,in the most cunning and in fact artistic 
manner,dry leaves and bits of grass stems lightly laid and 
and interlaced and matching the surroundong surface exactly . 
When I removed this debris I found the ground beneath as 
hard as if it had never been disturbed. It was not until I 
had dug down to the eggs that I felt sure that I really had 
the right spot. Within a few yards were two other nests that 
a Skunk had raided last night. I covered this nest with 
wire netting weighted with heavy stones. During the entire 
time we watched her the Turtle did not once look back or 
gven turn her head. I do not think that she saw one of her 
eggs. 
As I was sitting on Ball’s Hill this evening, listening 
to the "Kicker" and two pumping Bitterns, I heard a Black Duck 
quacking and presently saw the bird alight in a pool opposite 
Bensen’s Landing in the Gre&t Meadow, 
