CROCODILES AND ALLIGATORS. 25 



little for the shore except for this purpose. So admirable an account of the manner in 

 which the Turtle behaves when laying her eggs is written by Audubon, that the de- 

 scription must be given in his own words. 



" On nearing the shore, and mostly on fine calm moonlight nights, 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 noth- 

 ing likely to disturb her intended operations, she emits a loud hissing sound, by which 

 such of her enemies as are unaccustomed to it are startled, and apt to remove to 

 another place, although unseen by her. 



Should she hear any more noise, or perceive any indication of danger, she instantly 

 sinks and goes off to a distance ; but should everything be quiet, she advances slowly 

 towards the beach, crawls over it, her head raised to the full stretch of her neck, and 

 \vhen she has reached a place fitted for her purpose, she gazes all around in silence. 

 Finding all well, she proceeds to form a hole in the sand, which she effects by remov- 

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

 that the sides seldom, if ever, fall in. The sand is raised alternately with each flapper 

 as with a ladle, until it has accumulated behind her, when, supporting herself with her 

 head and fore-part on the ground, she, with a spring from each flapper, sends the sand 

 around her, scattering 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 space of nine minutes. 

 The eggs are then dropped one by one and disposed in regular layers to the number 

 of one hundred and fifty, or sometimes nearly two hundred. The whole time spent in 

 this 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 would imagine that anything had been done to it. This accomplished to her 

 mind, she retreats to the water with all possible despatch, leaving the hatching of the 

 eggs to the heat of the sand. 



When a Turtle, a 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 ; but the 

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

 as strong as Hercules, to turn her over and secure her." 



CROCODILES AND ALLIGATORS. 



ACCORDING to the arrangement of the national collection in the British Museum, the 

 link next to the tortoise tribe is formed of an important group of reptiles, containing 

 the largest of the reptilian order, larger indeed than most present inhabitants of the 

 earth, if we except one or two African and Indian animals, and some members of the 

 cetaceous tribe. As is the case with nearly all reptiles, they are carnivorous, and 

 owing to their great size, strength of muscle, voracity of appetite and the terrible arma- 

 ture of sharp teeth with which their jaws are supplied, they are the dread of the countries 

 which they inhabit, ruling the rivers with a sway as despotic as is exercised by the lion 

 and tiger on land, the eagle in the air, or the shark in the seas. 



On account of the peculiar manner in which their bodies are covered with square, 

 keeled, bony plates embedded' in the skin, and protecting the body with an armor that 

 effectually guards its upper and more exposed portions from any ordinary weapon, they 

 are separated from the true lizards and scientifically termed EMYDOSAURI, or Tor- 

 toise-lizards, the bony plates being considered to have a certain analogy with those of 

 the shielded reptiles. By some zoological authors these animals are termed LORI- 

 CATA or Mailed Reptiles, from the Latin word lorua which signifies a coat of mail or 

 cuirass. 



