SEVENTH ANNUAL REPORT. 167 



of the forest. Of these, two had been rifled, and the broken egg- 

 shells were what first attracted our attention to them. All the 

 eggs found on that date (November 12th) w^ere perfectly fresh, 

 and we saw two or three newly dug holes with tortoises but a 

 few feet from them. Most of the nests found were in well-trav- 

 eled cattle or tortoise trails. They were so placed that the sun 

 shone on them but a few hours each day ; when it did it was very 

 hot. Ordinarily it was very difficult to recognize the site of a 

 nest, the very slight elevation in the trail, or slightly fresher-look- 

 ing earth being our sole guide. Several times we imagined that 

 we had discovered nests, and prodded about with our sticks, and 

 dug with our hands until finally we realized that we had mis- 

 interpreted the signs. 



On finding our first nests in the trail the old adage, "Don't 

 put all your eggs into one basket," was forcibly brought to 

 mind. This is a rule that is followed by the tortoise, for within 

 a radius of 15 feet four nests were found, each containing 8 to 

 17 eggs. The holes were about 15 inches in depth, and nearly 

 a foot in diameter. The eggs were placed in layers of 3 to 6, 

 the first layer being on the soft soil on the bottom, separated 

 from the next by an inch or so of dirt, and the second layer 

 separated from the third in the same manner. The dirt surround- 

 ing the eggs was loose, but the top of the hole was covered to 

 a depth of 3 or 4 inches with a very hard crust that had prob- 

 ably been formed by the tortoise lying on it and working from 

 side to side in the same manner that w-e frequently noticed them 

 working down a form to lie in. 



Judging by the size and number of the eggs found in several 

 of the tortoises that we dissected, it would seem that one or two 

 nests are finished at a given period, and a week or two later the 

 remainder of the eggs are laid. From 10 to 20 eggs were ready 

 for extrusion together, while 20 or 30 more were from one-half 

 to two-thirds the normal size. A peculiar fact regarding the tor- 

 toises that inhabit this mountain is the scarred appearance of the 

 shells of those living near the top as compared with those living 

 near the base, or, for the matter of that, any of the other species 

 in the archipelago. The young tortoises near the top are very 

 smooth, but with hardly an exception the old ones show irreg- 

 ular spots on their shells that thus far have not been satisfactorily 

 accounted for. It seems hardly possible that they could have 

 been made by a shower of lava, and yet, within a mile of the 

 spot where the old patriarchs of this species are found, there 

 are a number of living volcanoes which might, a hundred years 



