Previous authors, most of whom allude to published statements preceding their own, characterize soft-shelled turtles as carnivorous and mention such food items as crawfish, insects, worms, snails, clams, frogs, tadpoles, fish, and occasional vegetable matter. Stockwell (1878:403) wrote that the relative lengths of portions of the digestive tract indicate "a purely carnivorous diet." In an examination of the contents of 11 stomachs of _spinifer_ from Michigan, Lagler (1943:304) found that crawfish (47%) and insects (52%), principally burrowing mayfly naiads (_Hexagenia_), and dragonfly naiads, comprised the bulk of the diet with cryptogams, vegetable débris, snails and fish remains present in small amounts. Breckenridge (1944:186) wrote that 18 specimens of _spinifer_ in Minnesota contained 44 per cent crawfish, 29 per cent aquatic insects, 8 per cent fish, and 19 per cent unidentified material. Surface (1908:123) found crawfish in the only two stomachs of specimens he examined from Pennsylvania. Penn (1950) summarized the results of those authors, and estimated that crawfishes comprised 58 per cent (46% by volume) of the diet of softshells. In Indiana, three stomachs examined by Newman (1906:131) in late June contained: 1) nine crawfish, 2) four crawfish, 22 dragonfly naiads, 3) nine dragonfly naiads, few plant buds. Neill (1951a:765) found crawfishes in the stomachs of five _spinifer_ from the Savannah River, Georgia. Evermann and Clark (1920:595) wrote that _spinifer_ in Lake Maxinkuckee feeds principally on crawfishes. Shockley (1949:257) mentioned bottom organisms and small fishes as food. Clark and Southall (1920:16) stated that "Its principal food, to judge from a few specimens examined, consists of crayfishes." Cahn (1937:183) wrote that the food of _muticus_ in Illinois consists principally of crawfish, fish, frogs, tadpoles, larger insect larvae and nymphs, and aquatic mollusks. The kinds of fish eaten were _Notropis heterolepis_, _N. spilopterus_, _N. hudsonius_, _Lepomis machrochirus_, _Morone chrysops_, _Perca flavescens_, _Catostomus commersonnii_, and _Hypentelium nigricans_; Cahn (_loc. cit._) also stated that the mollusks eaten by _muticus_ are both gastropods and small, thin-shelled bivalves. In regard to the feeding habits of _spinifer_ in Illinois, Cahn (_op. cit._:193) listed the following items in decreasing order of abundance as revealed by examinations of stomachs: crawfish, minnows, fry of larger fish, frogs, tadpoles, earthworms, insects (often beetles), and mollusca (_Pisidium_, _Viviparus_, planorbids). The kinds of fish mentioned were: _Notropis heterodon_, _N. heterolepis_, _N. hudsonius_, _Catostomus commersonnii_, _Lepomis humilis_, _L. macrochirus_, _Semotilus atromaculatus_, _Notemigonus crysoleucas_, _Umbra limi_, and _Micropterus salmoides_. Cahn (_loc. cit._) also found the remains of a six-inch brook trout (_Salvelinus_) in the stomach of a 13-inch _spinifer_ from Wisconsin.