Possibly the nests of _ferox_ and _spinifer_ differ from those of _muticus_ in being flask-shaped. A nest of _spinifer_ was reported by Gehlbach and Collette (_loc. cit._) as having a neck three inches across, a depth of six inches and a width of five inches at the bottom. The nests of _muticus_ that I discovered on the Escambia River were not flask-shaped; the eggs were five to seven inches below the surface. Evermann and Clark (1920:594) reported eggs of _spinifer_ "generally at a depth of four to ten inches," and Breckenridge (_loc. cit._) found the topmost eggs about five inches below the surface. There may be behavioral differences between _ferox_ and _spinifer_ and _muticus_. Hamilton (_loc. cit._) mentioned that _ferox_ proceeded with its reproductive duties even when he stood only a few yards away. Muller (_op. cit._:181) found that _muticus_ would run to the water if disturbed, without completing deposition of eggs; the same behavior was described by Cahn (_op. cit._:191) for _spinifer_. Newman (1906:133) wrote that _spinifer_ will abandon nesting activities if surprised before egg deposition begins, but will wait to cover the eggs if interrupted while laying eggs. Goldsmith (1945:448) found that an observer did not disturb females of _muticus_ when they were laying eggs (females "could be approached and even touched"), but that, in the presence of an observer, they would scurry toward the water without covering the eggs and would not return to cover them. Turtles frightened in the process of the construction of the nests would not return to complete the original nest. Harper (1926:415) wrote that _ferox_, after completing nesting activities, will crawl a few feet from the nest and scuffle up the surface, presumably to decoy predators that might otherwise destroy the eggs; this observation has not been corroborated by other authors. Harper (_op. cit._:416) recorded the observation of Allen Chesser, who says that females, after egg deposition, often "... bury themselves, before they go ter the water, an' stay there ten er twelve hours." _Reproductive Potential_ Estimates of reproductive potentials are subject to variation of one kind or another. Counts of oviducal eggs or those in nests may be misleading, as in some individuals one or more eggs may have been deposited previously. Mitsukuri (1905:263), Newman (1906:135), Muller (1921:182), and Cahn (1937:183) have mentioned that the number of eggs per clutch corresponds to the size of the female. Females of northern populations may have larger clutches than females of the same size from southern populations. TABLE 8. Records in the Literature Pertaining to Number and Size of Eggs of Three American Species of Trionyx.