52 tJ. S. BUREAU OF FISHERIES. 



is a great demand for the eggs. The white or mature eggs sell for 

 25 cents a dozen, while the yellow or immature ones bring about 50 

 cents a pound and are considered a great delicacy. The turtle has 

 two ovaries, and the immature eggs are found in a large cluster in 

 each one. The mature eggs, which are somewhat smaller than a 

 golf ball, are found practically unattached inside the ovaries and 

 have tough parchmentlike shells, which will not break even though 

 the eggs are thrown down with force. A female is said to contain 

 from 6 to 30 pounds of eggs, according to its size and condition. 



The smaller turtles are shipped alive to the North, as they com- 

 mand a somewhat higher price per pound than do the larger ones. 

 The following quotations are taken from the New York wholesale 

 market prices of December 29, 1919: Turtles (green) under 100 

 pounds, 18 cents per pound; 100 to 150 pounds, 17 cents; 150 to 200 

 pounds, 16 cents; over 200 pounds, 13J cents. New York, however, 

 obtains only a part of its green turtles from Key West, for many 

 are brought by steamship direct from the West Indies and Central 

 America. 



In preparing turtles for shipment on the coastwise steamships the 

 four flippers are pierced and tied together, and the animals are 

 placed back down. This method of shipping turtles has been 

 branded as cruel, but it appears to be a necessity. The piercing of 

 the flippers, however, is not absolutely essential. Because the marine 

 turtles live almost entirely in the water the plastron is developed in 

 such a way that it is not capable of sustaining the weight of the 

 body without injuring the internal organs. Placing a green or a 

 loggerhead turtle in its " natural " position when out of water re- 

 sults in pressure from the plastron against the lungs, causing death 

 from suffocation. 



The loggerhead turtle is recorded from all tropical and subtropical 

 seas. The writer has observed one in New York Bay, one off Long 

 Island, and several off the New Jersey coast. Since the loggerhead 

 turtle is of much less commercial value than the green turtle, it has 

 been fished for less aggressively, and for that reason it is probably 

 the more abundant of the two. 



The front flippers of the loggerhead are supplied with two nails, 

 except occasionally in old examples, which have but one. The head 

 of the loggerhead turtle is larger than that of the green turtle. The 

 color of the carapace is usually a uniform brown, but sometimes it 

 is faintly marked with yellow. The under parts are yellowish. 

 Loggerheads weighing more than 700 pounds are comparatively rare, 

 the usual size ranging between 40 and 400 pounds. This turtle is 

 mostly carnivorous in its habits, but is said to feed also on a certain 

 grass that fishermen call " turtle weed." 



Most of the egg laying takes place during May and June. During 

 the egg laying season one female, according to size and condition, 

 may lay from 50 to 1,000 eggs. The eggs, which hatch in from 

 six to eight weeks, are deposited in the same manner as those of the 

 green turtle. The loggerhead is strictly a marine animal and, like 

 the green turtle, the female forsakes the sea only to lay her eggs. 



The loggerhead turtle is fairly plentiful in Florida waters, but 

 it is most abundant on the southwest coast. Compared with the 

 green turtle its value is slight, but it is utilized for food to some 



