THE 10GGETIHEAD TtJKTLE. 13 



I.' ' - ' - ' *"* ' 



Attacks young crocodiles. 



legs, and being able to divide very strong sub- 

 stances with their mouth. It is asserted by 

 Aldrovandus that, on offering a thick walking 

 stick to the gripe of one that he saw publicly 

 exhibited at Bologna, the animal bit it in two in 

 an instant. Their principal food is shell-fish, 

 which their strong beak enables them to break 

 from the rocks ; but their voracity, as asserted, 

 even leads them to attack young crocodiles, 

 which they often mutilate of their limbs or tail. 

 For this purpose they are said frequently to lurk 

 in the bottom of creeks along the shore, into 

 which the crocodiles sometimes retire backwards, 

 because the length of their body prevents them 

 from turning readily; and, taking advantage of 

 this posture, the loggerhead seizes them by the 

 tail, having then nothing to fear from their for* 

 midable teeth. 



The loggerheads, like tbe greeft turtles, lay 

 their eggs in the sand. Their flesh is coarse and 

 rank, but their bodies afford a considerable 

 quantity of oil, which may be used for various 

 purposes, particularly for burning, or for dress- 

 ing leather. The plates of the shell are not suf- 

 ficiently thick to be of great use. 



Rondeletius, who was a native of Languedoc, 

 kept one of this species, which had been caught 

 on the coast of Provence, for a considerable 

 time. It emitted a confused kind of noise, and 

 frequen tly si ghed . 



flie ne*h of the trunk turtle and h^vvksbill 



