REPTILES. 



409 



It would appear that this form is rather more abundant in Europe and 

 the east. One author writes that this species is one of those with which 

 the Greeks were well acquainted, and he supposes it to have been the 

 species particularly used in the construction of the ancient harp or lyre, 

 which was at first constructed by attaching strings to the shell of some 

 marine tortoise. This form is very large, having a total length of about 

 seven feet, a spread of flippers of nine or ten feet, and a weight of a thou- 

 sand or twelve hundred pounds in the largest specimens. Its ridged back 



Fig. 354. — Leather-back tortoise {Sphargis coriacea). 



is covered with a dark leathery integument, and from this appearance the 

 common name is derived. The flesh is very good and palatable, as the 

 writer can testify from his own experience. 



The logger-head turtle rarely gets as far north as Massachusetts, but 

 farther south it is very abundant, and at the time of laying the eggs they 

 are taken in large numbers along the sandy shores of the Mexican Gulf. 

 At night they come up from the sea, and excavate shallow holes in the 

 sand, in which they lay their eggs. After this is done they carefully cover 



