:{58 



VEUTEBKATA. 



i,'rj.^^>i 



THE IMBRICATED TURTLE OVERTURNED. 



!is many as they require in the same manner, carry them off to their ships. These turtles are 

 often seen in the waters of the West India Islands, in the Gulf of Mexico, on the Atlantic coasts 

 of America and Africix, and in various parts of the Pacific and Indian Oceans ; when not en- 

 l^anrod in fcedinjx, tliey float on the water, sometimes many miles from land; they are then ap- 

 parently ask't'p, and are easily approached and captured. Audubon gives the following interest- 

 ing account of the manner in which the female deposits her eggs, which he ajjpears to have 

 observed along the coast of Florida. 



'• On first nearing the shore, and mostly on fine moonlight evenings, the turtle raises her head 

 above the water, being still distant thirty or forty yards from the beach, looks around her, and 

 attentively examines the objects on shore. Should she observe nothing likely to disturb her 

 intended operations, she emits a loud, hissing sound, by Avhich such of her many enemies as are 

 unaccustomed to it are startled, and so are apt to remove to another place, although unseen by 

 her. Should she hear any noise, or perceive any indications of danger, she instantly sinks, and 

 goes off to a considerable distance ; but should every thing be quiet, she advances slowly toward 

 the beach, crawls over it, her head raised to the full stretch of her neck, and when she has reached 

 a place fitted for her purpose, she gazes all around in silence. 



" Finding ' all well,' she proceeds to for;n a hole in the sand, which she effects by remo\4ng it 

 from under her body with her hind flappers, scooping it out with so much dexterity that the 

 sides seldom if ever fall. The sand is raised alternately with each flapper, as with a large ladle, 

 until it has accunndat.nl behind her, when, supporting herself with her head and fore part on the 

 ground fronting her body, she, with a spring from each flapper, sends the sand around her, scat- 

 tering it to the distance of several feet. In this manner the hole is dug to the depth of eighteen 

 inches, or sometimes more than two feet. This labor I have seen performed in the short period 

 of nine minutes. The eggs are then dropped one by one, and disposed in regular layers to the 

 number of a hundred and fifty, or sometimes nearly two hundred The whole time spent in this 

 part of the operation may be about twenty minutes. She now scrapes the loose sand back over 

 the eggs, and so levels and smooths the surface that few persons on seeing the spot could 

 imagine that any thing had been done to it. This accomplished to her mind, she retreats to the 

 water with all possible dispatch, leaving the hatching of the eggs to the heat of the sand. 



" AA hen a Turtle, or Loggerhead, for example, is in the act of dropping her eggs, she will not 

 move, although one should go up to her, or even seat himself on her back, for it seems at this 

 moment she finds it necessary to proceed at all events, and is unable to intermit her labor. The 

 moment it is finished, however, off she starts ; nor would it then be possible for one, unless he 

 were as strong as Hercules, to tarn her over and secure her. 



