HAWK S-BILL TURTLE. O 



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 when she has reached a place 

 fitted for her purpose, she gazes all around in silence. Find- 

 ing ' all well,' she proceeds to form a hole in the sand, 

 which she effects by removing 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 large ladle, until it 

 has accumulated 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, 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 labour 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 

 anything 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. 

 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 ; for it seems 

 at this moment she finds it necessary to proceed at all events, 

 and is unable to intermit her labour. The moment -it is 

 finished, however, off she starts ; nor would it then be pos- 

 sible for one, unless he were as strong as a Hercules, to turn 

 her over and secure her."* 



* Audub. Amer. Ornith. Biog. II. 



