292 VERTEBRATES: REPTILES. 



CHELONIOID^E, OR LOGGERHEAD FAMILY. This Fam- 

 ily comprises turtles whose general form is something 

 like a heart flattened on one side, and furnished in front 

 with a pair of large flat, wing-like, scaly flippers, and be- 

 hind with a pair of scaly rudders. 



The Genus Chelonia contains the Green Turtles. The 

 Green Turtle, C. my das, Schw., of the warm parts of the 

 Atlantic coast of America, attains a weight of two hun- 

 dred to three hundred pounds, or more. It is highly 

 prized for food, and great numbers are caught on shore 

 at night, as they come there to deposit their eggs. 



The Genus Eretmochelys contains the Tortoise-shell Tur- 

 tles. The Hawk-bill, or Tortoise-shell Turtle, E. inibri- 

 cata, Fitz., of the warm parts of the Atlantic, approaches 



Hawk-bill Turtle, or Tortoise-shell Turtle, E. imbricata, Fitz. 



the Green Turtles in size, and the plates of its shell fur- 

 nish the well-known and highly prized tortoise-shell. 



The Genus Thalassochelys contains true Loggerheads. 



The Loggerhead Turtle, T. Caouana, Fitz., of the At- 

 lantic and Mediterranean, is the largest of all the turtles, 

 except Sphargis, to be hereafter noticed. Holbrook gives 

 the dimensions of one specimen as follows : head twelve 

 and a half inches long and ten wide, shell forty-two inches 



