﻿346 
  BABCOCK: 
  NEW 
  ENGLAND 
  TURTLES. 
  

  

  Ccifetta 
  caretta 
  (Linne). 
  

  

  Loggerhead 
  Turtle. 
  

  

  Pl.\te 
  18, 
  Figs. 
  3, 
  4. 
  

  

  Testudo 
  caretta 
  Linne, 
  Syst. 
  Nat., 
  ed. 
  10, 
  1758, 
  vol. 
  1, 
  p. 
  197. 
  

  

  Caretta 
  caretta 
  Stejneger, 
  Ann. 
  Rept. 
  U. 
  S. 
  Nat. 
  Mus. 
  for 
  1902, 
  1904, 
  p. 
  715. 
  

  

  The 
  Loggerhead 
  Turtle 
  is 
  at 
  once 
  conspicuous 
  by 
  its 
  relativelj' 
  large 
  head. 
  

  

  Size. 
  — 
  These 
  turtles 
  not 
  uncommonly 
  reach 
  three 
  and 
  one-half 
  feet 
  in 
  length 
  of 
  carapace 
  

   and 
  weigh 
  over 
  three 
  hundred 
  pounds. 
  Very 
  large 
  specimens 
  having 
  a 
  carapace 
  four 
  feet 
  

   long 
  and 
  weighing 
  nearly 
  five 
  hundred 
  pounds 
  have 
  been 
  reported. 
  

  

  Color. 
  — 
  The 
  general 
  color 
  is 
  brownish 
  or 
  black 
  above 
  and 
  a 
  pale 
  yellow 
  beneath. 
  

  

  Description. 
  — 
  As 
  above 
  stated 
  the 
  head 
  is 
  very 
  large 
  and 
  covered 
  viith. 
  small 
  shields. 
  

   There 
  are 
  normally 
  five 
  pairs 
  of 
  costal 
  shields 
  instead 
  of 
  four 
  as 
  in 
  other 
  Cheloniidae 
  and 
  in 
  

   the 
  adult 
  the 
  carapace, 
  which 
  is 
  highly 
  arched 
  and 
  heav'j^ 
  is 
  completely 
  ossified. 
  There 
  are 
  

   twenty-seven 
  marginals. 
  The 
  front 
  flippers 
  are 
  covered 
  ^ith 
  plates 
  and 
  usually 
  (always 
  in 
  

   young) 
  possess 
  two 
  nails. 
  The 
  anatomical 
  variations 
  in 
  this 
  species, 
  especially 
  in 
  the 
  number 
  

   of 
  horny 
  shields 
  of 
  the 
  carapace, 
  is 
  great. 
  From 
  the 
  normal 
  number, 
  sixteen 
  (six 
  neurals 
  and 
  

   five 
  pairs 
  of 
  costals), 
  they 
  increase 
  to 
  twenty-four, 
  with 
  various 
  intermediate 
  combinations. 
  

   These 
  shields 
  vary 
  greatly 
  in 
  size, 
  pattern, 
  and 
  color. 
  Young 
  specimens 
  have 
  three 
  distinct 
  

   keels 
  above 
  and 
  the 
  shields 
  of 
  the 
  carapace 
  are 
  slightly 
  imbricated. 
  

  

  Geographic 
  Distribution. 
  — 
  The 
  Loggerhead 
  Turtle 
  has 
  a 
  somewhat 
  ^^ider 
  range 
  than 
  the 
  

   Green 
  or 
  the 
  Hawksbill 
  Turtles. 
  Its 
  home 
  is 
  in 
  tropical 
  and 
  intertropical 
  seas, 
  from 
  which 
  it 
  

   pccasionally 
  wanders 
  great 
  distances. 
  It 
  is 
  a 
  frequent 
  \dsitor 
  along 
  our 
  North 
  Atlantic 
  coast 
  

   and 
  is 
  well 
  known 
  in 
  the 
  Mediterranean 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  western 
  coast 
  of 
  Europe 
  and 
  the 
  British 
  

   Isles. 
  There 
  is 
  a 
  record 
  of 
  a 
  turtle 
  of 
  this 
  species 
  land-locked 
  in 
  Loch 
  Lomond.^ 
  

  

  Nev) 
  England 
  Records. 
  — 
  Travelling 
  northward 
  in 
  the 
  Gulf 
  Stream, 
  Loggerhead 
  Turtles 
  

   not 
  unconunonly 
  visit 
  Long 
  Island 
  Sound 
  and 
  the 
  Massachusetts 
  coast. 
  Sumner, 
  Osburn, 
  

   and 
  Cole 
  (1913, 
  pt. 
  2, 
  p. 
  774) 
  report 
  it 
  from 
  the 
  vdcinity 
  of 
  Woods 
  Hole. 
  They 
  say: 
  "Men- 
  

   emsha 
  Bight 
  in 
  traps; 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  specimens 
  usually 
  about 
  two 
  feet 
  in 
  length 
  taken 
  every 
  

   year." 
  They 
  have 
  been 
  taken 
  in 
  Long 
  Island 
  Sound 
  in 
  a 
  benumbed 
  condition 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  

   December 
  4. 
  One 
  came 
  ashore 
  "drowned 
  in 
  the 
  surf" 
  at 
  East 
  Sand-nich, 
  Mass., 
  (1886). 
  

   There 
  are 
  three 
  specimens 
  of 
  this 
  turtle 
  in 
  the 
  Museum 
  of 
  the 
  Boston 
  Society 
  of 
  Natural 
  His- 
  

  

  ' 
  Notes 
  Leyden 
  Mus., 
  1895, 
  vol. 
  16, 
  p. 
  211 
  (quoted 
  by 
  Gadow, 
  1901). 
  

  

  