These water-tortoises are very lively and shy, most so perhaps _Ch. picta_, which is very quick and active. The food varies, often according to individual fancy. Most of them eat fish. _Ch. picta_ is partial to insects, but it also takes worms. Some of my specimens refused meat for a long time, but ultimately they became so fond of it and of worms, that they came out of the pond to take the food from the fingers; those in the Zoological {347}Gardens of London have developed a taste for biscuits. One of my largest _Ch. concinna_ fasted deliberately for eight months, refusing worms, insects, meat, and frogs, only occasionally sniffing at the food, until it was tempted with whitebait, which it took greedily. It refused, however, smelts and pieces of soles, but after another month it condescended to take meat regularly. Very young individuals live chiefly on flies, which they watch for near the surface of the water; and they are fond of smooth caterpillars, maggots, the larvae of humble-bees, and similar soft creatures. They all spend most of their time in the water, preferably floating near the surface, hidden between weeds; and they are fond of basking. Some of them spend the night in the water, lying motionless on the bottom, with heads and limbs turned in. Others prefer hiding under moss. Those species, which, like _Ch. concinna_ and _Ch. picta_, are common in the North, are of course perfectly hardy. For the winter they dig themselves holes in the banks near the water, and they do not come out again until the spring is well advanced. The eggs are hard-shelled, mostly long and oval, and they are hatched before the end of the summer. The larger species of Terrapin are eaten.