Published information on the food of _T. ornata_ consists of a few miscellaneous observations. Cahn (1937:103) opened five stomachs that contained partly digested vegetable matter but no insects or other animal food: Ortenburger and Freeman (1930:187) noted that grasshoppers were a main part of the diet of _T. ornata_ in Oklahoma and that turtles displayed unsuspected agility in catching them. Those authors also saw turtles eating caterpillars and robber flies. Strecker (1908:79) stated that "The natural diet of this species consists of vegetable matter and earthworms." Norris and Zweifel (1950:3) observed the feeding habits of captive _T. o. luteola_. Coyote melon (_Cucurbita foetidissima_) was eaten with reluctance but a collared lizard (_Crotaphytus collaris_) was quickly devoured. Tadpoles of _Scaphiopus hammondi_ were caught in a small pool and eaten. Adults of the same species were rejected after being caught; box turtles were seen wiping their mouths after rejecting adult toads. The authors suggested that _T. o. luteola_ is an important predator of _Scaphiopus hammondi_, since the two species occur together in many areas and the emergence of both is controlled to a large extent by rainfall. One individual of _luteola_ was seen eating a dead box turtle on a road. Captive individuals of _T. ornata_, observed in the present study, ate nearly every kind of animal and vegetable food given to them. Table scraps, consisting chiefly of greens, various fruits and vegetables, meat, and cooked potatoes, formed the main diet of turtles kept in outdoor cages. A number of persons have told me of ornate box turtles eating the succulent stems and leaves, and the fruits of various garden plants; similar incidents probably occur in areas of native vegetation. J. Knox Jones told me he saw an individual of _T. ornata_ eating a spiderwort (_Tradescantia_ sp.) in Cherry County, Nebraska. Sight-records of foods eaten by box turtles at the Damm Farm (excluding the many records of individuals foraging in dung or eating mulberries) were for grasshoppers, caterpillars, and various kinds of carrion. Box turtles were often seen eating grasshoppers on roads in early morning; Sophia Damm told me of frequently seeing individuals catching grasshoppers in her garden. Ralph J. Donahue told me that on his farm in Bates County, Missouri, an individual of _T. ornata_ made a circuit of the lawn each morning in summer and ate all the cicadas (_Magicicada septendecim_) found.