32 TESTUDINATA. — CHELONIAD^. 



dies ; in tlie Indian Ocean, the Isle of France, 

 Madagascar, Rodriguez, and the Seychelles ; in 

 the Pacific, the Galapagos, and the Sandwich 

 Isles, are noted resorts of Turtle. 



The reason of some shores being more fre- 

 quented by Turtles than others, is their suitabi- 

 lity for breeding-places. To reach the destined 

 spot for the deposition of the eggs, " the females 

 have often to traverse the sea for more than fifty 

 leagues, and the males accompany them to the 

 sandy beaches of those desert islands selected for 

 the places of nidification. Arrived at the end 

 of their voyage, they timidly come forth from 

 the sea after sunset ; and, as it is necessary to 

 leave the eggs above high-water mark, they have 

 often to drag themselves to a considerable dis- 

 tance before they can hollow out their nests 

 (about two feet in diameter) during the night, 

 and there lay at one sitting to the number of one 

 hundred eggs. This laying is repeated thrice, 

 at intervals of two or three weeks. The eggs 

 vary in size, but are spherical, like tennis-balls ; 

 and when they are laid, their investing membrane 

 is slightly flexible, although covered with a de- 

 licate calcareous layer. After shghtly covering 

 the nest with light sand, the parent returns to 

 the sea, leaving the eggs to the fostering in- 

 fluence of a tropical sun. The eggs are said to be 

 hatched from the fifteenth to the tw^enty-ninth 

 day ; and when the young Turtles come out, 

 their shells are not yet formed, and they are 

 white as if blanched. They instinctively make 

 for the sea ; but on their road, and as they pause 

 before entering the water, the birds of prey that 

 have been watching for the moment of their ap- 



