696 



A. E. Verrill — The Bermuda Islands. 



it is quite probable that some of the largest ones referred to by 

 them were Loggerheads, especially as their eggs were said to have 

 been as large as goose-eggs, which would apply to this species better 

 than to the others, for it has the largest eggs. In the West Indies 

 and at Florida Keys it is sometimes of very large size, specimens 

 weighing 450 pounds having been taken not infrequently. Mr. True 

 states that it sometimes weighs 1500 or 1600 pounds, and that one 

 which was taken in 1871, weighing about 850 pounds, was 6 feet in 

 length and 9 feet across the outstretched flippers ; the head was 11 

 inches long and 8 broad. Mr. Garman could get no positive evi- 

 dence of any weighing over 850 pounds. 



Figure 49. — Loggerhead. 



Figure 50. — Leather-back. 



The Loggerhead has a wide range ; it is common from Virginia 

 to Brazil, and occasionally crosses the Atlantic to the Mediterranean 

 and the coasts of England. It breeds commonly on the coasts of 

 Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, and rarely as far north as Vir- 

 ginia, while small specimens, weighing :]0 to 40 pounds, are common 

 off the North Carolina coast. Occasionally it has been taken off the 

 New England coast, coming north in the Gulf Stream. 



A similar species (T. Japonica (Them.) — olicacea Esch.) occurs 

 in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. 



The flesh of the Loggerhead is not valued as food, though small 

 ones are sent to the markets, but the old ones become so tough, 

 musky, and oily, that they are undesirable. The eggs are as good 

 as those of the other species, and are equally numerous. The shelly 

 plates are thin and not well colored, so that they are of little value 

 in the arts. 



Its food is similar to that of the Hawksbill, hut in the West Indies 

 it has the habit of feeding also on a large massive sponge, which is 

 therefore called the " logger-head sponge," and gives its name to 



