. . sh, and cannot resist a hook so baited. In the northern United States, from the 10th to the 20thof June, the female, at early morning, leaves the water andcrawls to a sandbank, digs a small cavity with its hind leg,into which the small, round eggs are deposited to the num-ber of twenty-five or thirty, when the sand is drawn overthem, the surface smoothed down, and the animal is soonback in the water, the entire operation not lasting overtwenty minutes. This method is different from that of ourother land turtles. Xothing but sand
. . sh, and cannot resist a hook so baited. In the northern United States, from the 10th to the 20thof June, the female, at early morning, leaves the water andcrawls to a sandbank, digs a small cavity with its hind leg,into which the small, round eggs are deposited to the num-ber of twenty-five or thirty, when the sand is drawn overthem, the surface smoothed down, and the animal is soonback in the water, the entire operation not lasting overtwenty minutes. This method is different from that of ourother land turtles. Xothing but sand will suit the purposeof the snapping-turtle. The sand must be quite dry andexposed to the full rays of the sun. The little ones arehatched in July. The joung run by instinct into the water. Remarkable stories are told of the longevity of theturtle and its tenacity of life. That they live to near acentury is well authenticated. After the head is severedfrom the body the head will open and shut the mouth androll the eyes. In one case a stick was held between the. THE REPTILE TRIBE 89 open jaws, which closed upon it with violence, and kepthold of it. Meanwhile the headless body was crawling onthe ground. THE GEOGRAPHIC TURTLE* Map and Mud-turtle [Malacoclemmys geographicus)are the more common names by which this animal is known ;and as it is a characteristic species of the waters of Illinoisand occurs in countless numbers in lakes, rivers, and flood-ground pools, it may be assumed that most of our readershave met with it. It is exceedingly common in the Illinoisand Mississippi Rivers, where it is often confounded withquite another species. It is the only species seen by M. Woodruff on the shores of Lake Michigan, whencehe has frequently chased it to the water and caught it inhis hands. It is timid and inoffensive in disposition, al-ways sliding from bank to log when approached, and evenwhen captured shows none of the ferocity of the great strength of its jaws, un
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