﻿HAWKSBILL 
  TURTLE. 
  343 
  

  

  north 
  of 
  North 
  Carolina. 
  Small 
  specimens 
  of 
  both 
  the 
  Loggerhead 
  and 
  hawk-bill 
  are, 
  how- 
  

   ever, 
  occasionally 
  taken 
  in 
  local 
  fish 
  traps, 
  and 
  one 
  or 
  two 
  of 
  the 
  latter 
  have 
  been 
  preserved 
  

   in 
  the 
  museum 
  of 
  the 
  laboratory. 
  A 
  specimen 
  ten 
  or 
  twelve 
  inches 
  long 
  was 
  taken 
  among 
  

   floating 
  sargassum 
  by 
  Mr. 
  Edwards 
  in 
  August, 
  1908, 
  and 
  was 
  kept 
  for 
  some 
  time 
  in 
  the 
  shark 
  

   pool 
  of 
  the 
  station.^ 
  I 
  learn 
  from 
  Mr. 
  Edwards 
  that 
  individuals 
  as 
  large 
  as 
  eighteen 
  inches 
  

   long 
  are 
  not 
  infrequently 
  captured. 
  This 
  species 
  is 
  readily 
  distinguished 
  from 
  the 
  loggerhead 
  

   {Caretta 
  caretta) 
  by 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  four 
  costal 
  shields, 
  instead 
  of 
  five 
  as 
  in 
  the 
  latter, 
  and 
  from 
  

   the 
  green 
  turtle 
  (Chelonia 
  my 
  das) 
  by 
  the 
  presence 
  of 
  two 
  prefrontal 
  plates 
  on 
  each 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  

   head." 
  It 
  is 
  now, 
  therefore, 
  included 
  in 
  the 
  fauna 
  of 
  the 
  "waters 
  of 
  Woods 
  Hole 
  and 
  Vicinity" 
  

   (Sumner, 
  Osburn 
  and 
  Cole, 
  1913, 
  pt. 
  2, 
  p. 
  774). 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  a 
  small 
  specimen 
  under 
  six 
  inches 
  in 
  length 
  from 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Woods 
  Hole 
  in 
  

   the 
  Biological 
  Laboratory 
  Museum. 
  It 
  is 
  reported 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  common 
  in 
  Buzzards 
  Bay 
  

   than 
  the 
  Loggerhead. 
  

  

  Individual 
  Range. 
  — 
  Probably 
  not 
  as 
  great 
  as 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  larger 
  sea 
  turtles. 
  

  

  Numbers. 
  — 
  Formerly 
  common 
  within 
  its 
  home 
  range, 
  this 
  species 
  has 
  been 
  so 
  persistently 
  

   hunted 
  that 
  it 
  is 
  surely 
  being 
  exterminated. 
  Large 
  specimens 
  are 
  rarely 
  taken 
  today. 
  

  

  Breeding. 
  — 
  Similar 
  to, 
  although 
  more 
  cautious 
  than 
  some 
  of 
  the 
  other 
  sea 
  turtles, 
  they 
  

   approach 
  the 
  sandy 
  shores 
  of 
  tropical 
  and 
  semitropical 
  islands 
  to 
  deposit 
  their 
  eggs 
  in 
  May 
  

   or 
  June 
  (West 
  Indies). 
  The 
  eggs 
  are 
  not 
  perfectly 
  spherical, 
  but 
  more 
  or 
  less 
  irregular. 
  

   These 
  turtles 
  are 
  believed 
  to 
  return 
  again 
  and 
  again 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  spot 
  for 
  laying. 
  In 
  1626 
  a 
  

   Hawksbill 
  Turtle 
  was 
  taken 
  from 
  Hambangtotte 
  which 
  bore 
  a 
  ring 
  attached 
  to 
  one 
  of 
  its 
  flippers 
  

   that 
  had 
  been 
  placed 
  there 
  by 
  a 
  Dutch 
  officer 
  thirty 
  years 
  before, 
  with 
  a 
  view 
  to 
  estabUshing 
  

   the 
  fact 
  of 
  the 
  recurrence 
  of 
  visits 
  to 
  the 
  same 
  beach. 
  

  

  Habits. 
  — 
  While 
  sea 
  turtles 
  of 
  this 
  family 
  are 
  shy 
  and 
  inoffensive, 
  defending 
  themselves 
  

   with 
  their 
  flippers 
  rather 
  than 
  by 
  biting, 
  this 
  species 
  seems 
  to 
  be 
  more 
  pugnacious 
  than 
  the 
  

   others. 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  known 
  to 
  attack 
  the 
  Green 
  Turtle 
  (in 
  confinement). 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  taken 
  

   among 
  floating 
  sargassum 
  and 
  has 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  Long 
  Island 
  Sound 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  the 
  Thanks- 
  

   giving 
  season 
  (late 
  November) 
  exhausted 
  by 
  the 
  cold. 
  Its 
  favorite 
  haunts 
  are 
  the 
  clear 
  tropical 
  

   seas 
  \vith 
  their 
  abundance 
  of 
  marine 
  fife. 
  

  

  Food. 
  — 
  These 
  turtles 
  are 
  considered 
  chiefly 
  carnivorous. 
  In 
  confinement, 
  at 
  least, 
  they 
  

   are 
  "voraciously 
  fond 
  of 
  cut-up 
  fish, 
  taking 
  the 
  food 
  from 
  one's 
  fingers" 
  (Ditmars, 
  1910, 
  p. 
  49). 
  

   Their 
  heavy 
  beaks 
  enable 
  them 
  to 
  break 
  the 
  shells 
  of 
  mollusks 
  and 
  crustaceans 
  which 
  also 
  

   form 
  part 
  of 
  their 
  diet. 
  

  

  Enemies. 
  — 
  Again 
  in 
  this 
  species 
  man 
  is 
  the 
  chief 
  enemy. 
  A 
  certain 
  number 
  of 
  animals 
  

   are 
  taken 
  with 
  hook, 
  net, 
  spear, 
  or 
  trap. 
  Audubon,^ 
  who 
  visited 
  the 
  Tortugas 
  Islands 
  on 
  the 
  

  

  ' 
  This 
  specimen 
  was 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  presented 
  to 
  the 
  Boston 
  Society 
  of 
  Natural 
  History, 
  but 
  in 
  some 
  way 
  escaped. 
  

   — 
  H. 
  L. 
  B. 
  

  

  - 
  Audubon, 
  J. 
  J. 
  Ornithological 
  Biography, 
  1835, 
  vol. 
  2, 
  p. 
  375. 
  

  

  