﻿GREEN 
  TURTLE. 
  339 
  

  

  along 
  the 
  coasts 
  of 
  Guiana 
  and 
  Brazil, 
  within 
  the 
  Gulf 
  of 
  Mexico, 
  and 
  off 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Florida. 
  

   Like 
  the 
  Leatherback 
  Turtle 
  it 
  wanders 
  north 
  in 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream 
  and 
  is 
  an 
  occasional 
  visitor 
  

   to 
  our 
  northern 
  coasts. 
  

  

  Neio 
  England 
  Records. 
  — 
  Henshaw 
  (1904) 
  gives 
  no 
  records, 
  but 
  states: 
  "Massachusetts 
  

   to 
  Connecticut." 
  They 
  are 
  occasionally 
  reported 
  along 
  the 
  southern 
  New 
  England 
  coast. 
  

   One 
  was 
  taken 
  in 
  New 
  Bedford 
  Harbor, 
  Mass., 
  in 
  late 
  September, 
  1878, 
  and 
  another 
  reported 
  

   off 
  Cohasset, 
  Mass., 
  in 
  October 
  of 
  the 
  same 
  year. 
  The 
  weight 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  was 
  estimated 
  at 
  

   seventy-five 
  pounds 
  (Forest 
  and 
  Stream, 
  1878, 
  vol. 
  11, 
  p. 
  244). 
  

  

  Linsley 
  (1843) 
  reports 
  two 
  specimens 
  taken 
  in 
  the 
  Housatonic 
  River, 
  one 
  at 
  its 
  mouth 
  

   and 
  one 
  "seven 
  miles 
  up." 
  Numerous 
  Long 
  Island 
  Sound 
  records 
  exist, 
  one 
  by 
  DeKay 
  (1842) 
  

   being 
  in 
  September, 
  1840. 
  It 
  might 
  be 
  expected 
  to 
  occur 
  in 
  Buzzards 
  Bay, 
  but 
  is 
  not 
  men- 
  

   tioned 
  in 
  the 
  Biological 
  Sm"vey 
  of 
  Woods 
  Hole 
  and 
  Vicinity 
  by 
  Sumner, 
  Osburn, 
  and 
  Cole 
  

   •(1913). 
  There 
  is 
  no 
  specimen 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  in 
  the 
  museum 
  of 
  the 
  Boston 
  Society 
  of 
  Natural 
  

   History. 
  

  

  Environment. 
  — 
  While 
  the 
  turtle 
  is 
  known 
  to 
  frequent 
  deep 
  seas, 
  it 
  is 
  also 
  taken 
  in 
  shallow 
  

   channels 
  where 
  it 
  feeds 
  in 
  the 
  quiet 
  waters. 
  

  

  Numbers. 
  — 
  These 
  turtles 
  were 
  formerly 
  common 
  about 
  their 
  favorite 
  haunts, 
  but 
  owing 
  

   to 
  the 
  continual 
  onslaught 
  of 
  turtle-hunters, 
  their 
  numbers 
  (especially 
  of 
  large 
  specimens) 
  

   are 
  rapidly 
  decreasing. 
  

  

  Breeding. 
  — 
  Approaching 
  shore 
  for 
  breeding 
  purposes 
  only, 
  the 
  females 
  deposit 
  their 
  eggs 
  

   on 
  "sandy 
  shores 
  of 
  desolate 
  islands 
  or 
  uninhabited 
  banks 
  of 
  certain 
  rivers." 
  They 
  have 
  

   been 
  observed 
  to 
  breed 
  at 
  the 
  Tortugas 
  Islands. 
  Audubon 
  (Ornithological 
  Biography, 
  1835, 
  

   vol. 
  2, 
  p. 
  371) 
  gives 
  the 
  following 
  account 
  of 
  their 
  actions 
  at 
  such 
  times: 
  The 
  female 
  arrives 
  

   by 
  night, 
  slowly 
  and 
  cautiously 
  she 
  approaches 
  the 
  shore, 
  and 
  if 
  undisturbed, 
  crawls 
  at 
  once 
  

   over 
  the 
  sand 
  above 
  high 
  water 
  mark; 
  here 
  with 
  her 
  fins 
  she 
  digs 
  a 
  hole 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  feet 
  deep, 
  

   in 
  which 
  she 
  lays 
  her 
  eggs, 
  between 
  one 
  and 
  two 
  hundred 
  in 
  number. 
  These 
  she 
  arranges 
  in 
  

   the 
  most 
  careful 
  manner, 
  and 
  then 
  "scrapes 
  the 
  loose 
  sand 
  back 
  over 
  the 
  eggs, 
  and 
  so 
  levels 
  

   and 
  smooths 
  the 
  surface, 
  that 
  few 
  persons 
  on 
  seeing 
  the 
  spot 
  could 
  imagine 
  any 
  thing 
  had 
  been 
  

   done 
  to 
  it." 
  The 
  nest 
  is 
  not 
  revisited 
  by 
  the 
  turtle, 
  the 
  eggs 
  being 
  incubated 
  by 
  the 
  sun's 
  rays 
  

   and 
  the 
  young 
  instinctively 
  seeking 
  the 
  water 
  as 
  soon 
  as 
  hatched. 
  They 
  are 
  entirely 
  self- 
  

   supporting 
  from 
  birth. 
  

  

  Holbrook 
  (1842, 
  vol. 
  2, 
  p. 
  29) 
  makes 
  the 
  statement 
  that 
  "two 
  or 
  three 
  times 
  in 
  the 
  season 
  

   does 
  the 
  female 
  return 
  to 
  nearly 
  the 
  same 
  spot 
  and 
  deposit 
  nearly 
  the 
  same 
  number 
  of 
  eggs, 
  

   so 
  that 
  the 
  whole 
  amount 
  annually 
  would 
  be 
  foiu* 
  or 
  fi\e 
  hundred"; 
  a 
  statement 
  which 
  is 
  

   quite 
  properly 
  challenged 
  by 
  Agassiz 
  as 
  being 
  incorrect. 
  The 
  whole 
  operation 
  of 
  digging, 
  

   laying, 
  and 
  filling 
  up 
  the 
  nest 
  is 
  said 
  to 
  last 
  about 
  two 
  hours. 
  The 
  season 
  for 
  breeding 
  varies 
  

   with 
  the 
  geographical 
  location. 
  In 
  the 
  West 
  Indies 
  and 
  Straits 
  of 
  Malacca 
  it 
  occurs 
  from 
  April 
  

  

  