eme southern end of Florida.

The turtles are easily recognized by the bony covering which encases
their body, and into which most species can withdraw their heads and
legs for protection. This bony box is usually covered with horny
plates, but in a large group, the so-called soft-shell turtles, the
outer covering is a soft skin, thus forming a {98} notable exception
to the rule that reptiles are characterized by being covered with
scales or plates. While most of the turtles live in fresh water or on
land, a few species pass their lives in the open ocean, only coming
ashore during the breeding season to deposit their eggs. Some of these
marine turtles grow to an enormous size, sometimes reaching a weight
of over eight hundred pounds. One of them is much sought for on
account of the delicacy of its flesh; another because of the thickness
and beauty of its horny plates which furnish the so-called
tortoise-shell, an important article of commerce. Turtles appear to
reach a very old age, specimens having been known to have lived
several hundred years. The box tortoise of our woods, the musk
turtles, the snapping turtles are familiar examples of this order,
while the terrapin, which lives in brackish ponds and swamps along our
sea-coasts, is famous as a table delicacy.

[Illustration: Harlequin snake]

The lizards are four-legged reptiles, usually of small size, living on
the ground or in the trees, out very rarely voluntarily entering
water. The so-called water lizards are not lizards at all, but belong
to the salamanders and are distinguished by having a naked body not
covered with scales. Most of the true lizards are of very graceful
form, exceedingly quick at running; others display the most gorgeous
coloration which, in many of them, such as the chameleons, changes
according to the light, or the temperature, or the mood of the animal.
Not all of them have four legs, however, there being a strong tendency
to develop legless species which then externally become so much like
snakes that they are told apart with some difficulty. Thus our
so-called glass-snake, common in the Southern states, is not a snake
at all, but a lizard, as we may easily see by observing the ear
openings on each side of the head, as no snake has ears. This
beautiful animal is also known as the joint-snake, and both names have
reference to the exceeding brittleness of its long tail, which often
breaks in many pieces in the hands of the enemy tryi