﻿336 
  BABCOCK: 
  NEW 
  ENGLAND 
  TURTLES. 
  

  

  1885 
  — 
  One 
  " 
  near 
  Boston," 
  Mass. 
  

  

  One 
  at 
  Portland, 
  Maine. 
  

  

  One 
  at 
  Rockport, 
  Mass. 
  (Aug. 
  2.5) 
  (Peabody 
  Museum, 
  Salem). 
  

   IggQ 
  — 
  Xvvo 
  in 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Southeast 
  Point, 
  Block 
  Island, 
  R. 
  L 
  (about 
  .July 
  .30). 
  

   1S91 
  — 
  (?) 
  One 
  taken 
  in 
  fish 
  trap 
  in 
  Buzzards 
  Bay, 
  near 
  Woods 
  Hole 
  (wt. 
  1400 
  pounds). 
  

   jg07. 
  — 
  One 
  taken 
  a 
  few 
  miles 
  south 
  of 
  No 
  Man's 
  Land, 
  Mass. 
  — 
  "Got 
  fouled 
  in 
  a 
  fishing 
  dory's 
  anchor 
  rope." 
  

  

  (Early 
  July.) 
  Specimen 
  now 
  in 
  JNIuseum 
  of 
  Boston 
  Society 
  of 
  Natural 
  History. 
  

  

  1908 
  — 
  One 
  taken 
  off 
  Rockport, 
  Mass. 
  (Aug.). 
  

  

  One 
  landed 
  at 
  Bath, 
  Maine. 
  

  

  1909 
  — 
  One 
  near 
  Portland, 
  Me. 
  (Now 
  in 
  Academy 
  of 
  Natural 
  Sciences, 
  Philadelphia, 
  Pa.) 
  

   1917 
  — 
  One 
  at 
  Corporation 
  Point, 
  Cape 
  Cod, 
  Mass. 
  Weight 
  .5.50 
  pounds. 
  

  

  In 
  the 
  Aluseiim 
  of 
  the 
  Boston 
  Societj^ 
  of 
  Natural 
  History, 
  in 
  addition 
  to 
  the 
  specimens 
  

   from 
  No 
  Man's 
  Land 
  and 
  Massachusetts 
  Bay, 
  is 
  one 
  labeled 
  Buzzards 
  Bay, 
  but 
  with 
  no 
  addi- 
  

   tional 
  data. 
  

  

  Individual 
  Range. 
  — 
  Its 
  \^'ide 
  distribution 
  taken 
  together 
  with 
  its 
  great 
  powers 
  of 
  loco- 
  

   motion 
  have 
  led 
  to 
  the 
  beUef 
  that 
  single 
  individuals 
  wander 
  over 
  tremendous 
  areas. 
  

  

  Numbers. 
  — 
  It 
  is 
  nowhere 
  common. 
  

  

  Breeding. 
  — 
  Agassiz 
  (1857, 
  vol. 
  1, 
  p. 
  373) 
  says: 
  "It 
  breeds 
  regularly 
  every 
  year 
  in 
  the 
  

   spring, 
  on 
  the 
  Bahamas, 
  on 
  the 
  Tortugas, 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Brazil." 
  It 
  also 
  breeds, 
  accord- 
  

   ing 
  to 
  Boulenger, 
  off 
  the 
  coast 
  of 
  Tenasserim, 
  and 
  at 
  the 
  entrance 
  to 
  the 
  Klang 
  Straits, 
  where 
  

   "they 
  congregate 
  in 
  order 
  to 
  deposit 
  their 
  eggs, 
  each 
  female 
  depositing 
  some 
  three 
  or 
  four 
  

   hundred." 
  

  

  Habits. 
  — 
  The 
  great 
  powers 
  of 
  locomotion 
  of 
  this 
  turtle 
  have 
  been 
  spoken 
  of, 
  it 
  being 
  the 
  

   most 
  thoroughly 
  aquatic 
  turtle 
  known. 
  It 
  apparently 
  approaches 
  the 
  shore 
  onl.y 
  to 
  deposit 
  

   its 
  eggs; 
  otherwise 
  it 
  is 
  entirely 
  marine. 
  Its 
  strength 
  is 
  illustrated 
  by 
  the 
  following 
  interest- 
  

   ing 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  capture 
  of 
  a 
  specimen 
  at 
  Santa 
  Barbara 
  in 
  1905, 
  by 
  G. 
  W. 
  Gourley: 
  "The 
  

   turtle 
  was 
  first 
  seen 
  swimming 
  on 
  the 
  surface 
  about 
  two 
  miles 
  off 
  shore. 
  I 
  went 
  after 
  it, 
  accom- 
  

   panied 
  by 
  a 
  boy, 
  in 
  an 
  eighteen-foot 
  sailing 
  boat. 
  On 
  approaching 
  the 
  turtle 
  I 
  dropped 
  the 
  

   tiller 
  and 
  got 
  forward 
  with 
  the 
  gaff 
  hook, 
  swung 
  over 
  the 
  side, 
  and 
  got 
  the 
  hook 
  fast 
  in 
  the 
  

   leathery 
  part 
  of 
  his 
  neck. 
  He 
  immediately 
  sounded, 
  and 
  ran 
  out 
  the 
  full 
  length 
  of 
  the 
  hne 
  — 
  

   about 
  two 
  hundred 
  feet 
  — 
  towing 
  the 
  boat 
  about 
  half 
  a 
  mile 
  further 
  out 
  to 
  sea. 
  He 
  then 
  

   came 
  to 
  the 
  surface 
  and 
  we 
  pulled 
  up 
  close 
  to 
  him 
  again. 
  When 
  he 
  caught 
  sight 
  of 
  the 
  boat 
  

   he 
  turned 
  and 
  came 
  toward 
  us 
  and 
  threw 
  his 
  flippers 
  over 
  the 
  gunwale 
  of 
  the 
  boat, 
  nearly 
  

   capsizing 
  her. 
  I 
  climbed 
  up 
  on 
  the 
  upper 
  side, 
  and 
  shoved 
  him 
  off 
  with 
  an 
  oar, 
  the 
  end 
  of 
  which 
  

   he 
  grabbed 
  and 
  bit 
  off 
  Uke 
  a 
  piece 
  of 
  cheese. 
  His 
  movements 
  were 
  very 
  swift 
  ; 
  using 
  his 
  fore- 
  

   flipper 
  he 
  could 
  turn 
  almost 
  instantly 
  from 
  one 
  side 
  to 
  the 
  other 
  and 
  his 
  head 
  would 
  project 
  

   about 
  eighteen 
  inches 
  from 
  the 
  bodj-. 
  I 
  succeeded 
  at 
  last 
  in 
  throwing 
  a 
  noose 
  over 
  his 
  head, 
  

   and 
  later, 
  by 
  attracting 
  his 
  attention 
  in 
  the 
  opposite 
  direction, 
  got 
  ropes 
  round 
  both 
  flippers, 
  

   finally 
  having 
  five 
  fines 
  on 
  him, 
  and 
  started 
  to 
  tow 
  him 
  towards 
  the 
  shore. 
  We 
  were 
  from 
  

  

  