"
"They are able to bear a great deal of cold, Lady Mary--all insects can;
and even when frozen hard, so that they will break if any one tries to
bend them, yet when spring comes again to warm them, they revive, and are
as full of life as ever. Caterpillars thus frozen will become butterflies
in due time. Spiders, and many other creatures, lie torpid during the
winter, and then revive in the same way as dormice, bears, and marmots
do."
"Nurse, please will you tell me something about tortoises and porcupines?"
said Lady Mary.
"I cannot tell you a great deal about the tortoise, my dear," replied her
nurse. "I have seen them sometimes on the shores of the lakes, and once or
twice I have met with the small land-tortoise, in the woods on the banks
of the Otonabee river. The shell that covers these reptiles is black and
yellow, divided into squares--those which I saw were about the size of my
two hands. They are very harmless creatures, living chiefly on roots and
bitter herbs: perhaps they eat insects as well. They lie buried in the
sand during the long winters, in a torpid state: they lay a number of
eggs, about the size of a blackbird's, the shell of which is tough and
soft, like a snake's egg. The old tortoise buries these in the loose sand
near the water's edge, and leaves them to be hatched by the heat of the
sun.
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