HAWK’S-BILL TURTLE. 5 
water, being still distant thirty or forty yards from the 
beach, looks around her, and attentively examines the 
objects on shore. Should she observe nothing likely to 
disturb her intended operations, she emits a loud hissing 
sound, by which such of her many enemies as are unac- 
customed to it are startled, and so are apt to remove to 
another place, although unseen by her. Should she hear 
any noise, or perceive any indications of danger, she in- 
stantly sinks, and goes off to a considerable distance; but 
should everything be quiet, she advances slowly towards 
the beach, crawls over it, her head raised to the full 
stretch of her neck, and when she has reached a place 
fitted for her purpose, she gazes all around in silence. 
Finding ‘all well,’ she proceeds to form a hole in the sand, 
which she effects by removing it from wnder her body with 
her hind flappers, scooping it out with so much dexterity 
that the sides seldom if ever fallin. The sand is raised 
alternately with each flapper, as with a large ladle, until it 
has accumulated behind her, when, supporting herself with 
her head and fore part on the ground fronting her body, 
she, with a spring from each flapper, sends the sand 
around her, scattering it to the distance of several feet. 
In this manner the hole is dug to the depth of eighteen 
inches, or sometimes more than two feet. This labour I 
have seen performed in the short period of nine minutes. 
The eggs are then dropped one by one, and disposed in 
regular layers, to the number of a hundred and fifty, or 
sometimes nearly two hundred. The whole time spent in 
this part of the operation may be about twenty minutes. 
She now scrapes the loose sand back over the eggs, and so 
levels and smooths the surface, that few persons on seeing 
the spot could imagine anything had been done to it. This 
accomplished to her mind, she retreats to the water with 
