Populations of _T. ornata_ observed under natural conditions were chiefly carnivorous, although captives ate a variety of animal and vegetable matter. Insects, consisting chiefly of beetles, caterpillars, and one species of grasshopper, comprised approximately 89 per cent (by volume) of the food present in stomachs. Beetles (chiefly scarabaeids and carabids) are obtained in or near dung and seem to constitute the most important staple element of the diet. Piles of dung, disturbed by turtles in the course of their foragings, were characteristic "sign" of _T. ornata_ in the areas studied. Insects form the bulk of the diet for most of the year, although certain other foods, when especially abundant for short periods (mulberries for example), are eaten in large quantity or eaten to the exclusion of all other foods. Ornate box turtles occasionally eat the eggs and young of ground-nesting birds and slightly damage vegetables, but in no instance do these feeding habits significantly affect the economy of man. Box turtles probably benefit man by destroying large numbers of crop-damaging insects (locustids and noctuid caterpillars). Box turtles were more numerous than most kinds of reptiles at the Damm Farm and were the most conspicuous of any kind of reptile. One hundred and ninety-four turtles were marked; one-fourth of these were recaptured at least twice. Population density in certain areas of favorable habitat ranged from 2.6 to 6.3 turtles per acre. The total number of individuals on the study area was estimated to be 286. The marked population consisted of 53 per cent adult or subadult females, 31 per cent adult males, and 16 per cent juveniles of undetermined sex. Only six individuals had plastra shorter than 60 millimeters. Small box turtles are not so rare as these samples indicate; they are infrequently obtained because their smallness and ability to blend with the substrate make them difficult to see. More females than males were found in all months of the season of activity, excepting April and August when more males were found; the preponderance of females was greatest in the nesting season (June and July). Ornate box turtles walk with the shell held off the substrate. They are able to climb steep embankments or low barriers with some facility. Swimming ability is sufficient to permit survival in water and traversal of water-barriers but ornate box turtles almost never swim voluntarily.