162 NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



ing the tortoises. On our walk up to the ranch, lo miles by- 

 trail from the shore settlement, we counted over 30 tortoises in 

 the last three miles, and it was quite evident that at this place 

 were more tortoises than we had ever expected to see in their 

 native state. 



At the time of my visit, the majority of the tortoises were in 

 the open glades and sunny parks in the upper edge of the forest. 

 In every such place along the trail, and near other trails traversed 

 near the ranch, they could be seen feeding, walking about, or 

 quietly sleeping with their heads against the base of some bush 

 or tree where they had dug a form in which to lie. The form 

 which a tortoise occupies is similar in shape to that of the com- 

 mon hare in California ; but instead of facing outward, as does 

 the hare, the tortoise always faces inward. 



The tortoise seemed to have no regular time for feeding, being 

 at all hours of the day eating or walking about. During the 

 middle of the day, if the sun is shining, they keep in the shade 

 of the trees, but if it is cloudy many spend the time wandering 

 back and forth on the trails. We were told by the natives that 

 in the summer the tortoises go up to the top of the mountain \ 

 and this statement confirmed my observations of similar habits 

 of other species in the Archipelago. 



We found that the tortoise trails extend up and down the 

 mountain side for miles, one of the objective points at the lower 

 part of the range being a rocky basin where water collects during 

 rains. By centuries of constant use these rocks have been worn 

 so smooth that it is almost impossible to walk over them after 

 a rain, while they are wet. Once we noticed four tortoises slak- 

 ing their thirst at a rocky pool near the trail, but during our stay 

 at the ranch the rainfall was so great that every little hollow 

 in the ground held w-ater, and a tortoise could get a drink any- 

 where. 



One afternoon, while standing under a tree during a heavy 

 downpour, I was surprised to see a big tortoise come slowly 

 down the hill through the wet grass, walk into a rapidly-forming 

 pool of water, take a long drink, and then lie down in the pool. 

 When he settled down the depth of the water was only two 

 inches, but in a few minutes it had increased to eight inches, and 

 he seemed entirely content, until his attention was attracted to 

 a female tortoise, which also came to the pool to drink. That 

 attraction was the stronger, so he left the water and set out to 

 make her acquaintance. 



After the rain had ceased, I went down the trail some distance 



