ZOOLOGICAL SOCIET\' BULLETIN 



deposit their eggs in sand, above high-water 

 mark. By watching them at night when they 

 come up on the beaches, or liy following their 

 conspicuous trails to where nests have been 

 made, the eggs are readily secured. 



Green turtles are often found at great dis- 

 tances from land. During the explorations of 

 the steamer "Albatross" ofT the west coast of 

 Central America, they were taken almost every 

 day. By lowering a boat and approaching the 

 sleeping turtles very quietly, they could usually 

 be harpooned before being awakened. The 

 taking of turtles in this way was a favorite 

 sport with the naturalists of the vessel when 

 the ship was stopped for sounding and dredg- 

 ing, and the ship's company was usually well 

 supplied with turtle steak in those waters. 

 While located for a time at Swan Island, in 

 the Caribbean Sea, the writer assisted in the 

 capture of many large turtles at night when 

 they were on the beaches to deposit their eggs. 



On the Pacific coast, where the green turtle 

 has not been taken extensively for market pur- 

 poses, it is still very abundant. .'\t San Cris- 

 tobal Bay, on the ])eninsula of Lower Cali- 

 fornia, about 300 miles south of the United 

 States and Mexican Ijoundary, the "Albatross" 

 succeeded in beaching over 167 specimens at 

 a single haul of a large 500-foot seine. 



Attempts are being made in some parts of 

 the Caribbean Sea to raise hawksbill turtles 

 for their valuable tortoise shell plates. .-\ 

 correspondent in Nicaragua says that "kraals" 

 or water pens have been constructed at Great 

 Corn Island off the coast of Nicaragua. The 

 hawksbills are taken here when they come up 

 on the sand to lay their eggs. A tub or half- 

 barrel with the bottom removed is placed over 

 the spot where the eggs are deposited, in order 

 to retain the young as soon as they are hatched 

 out by the heat of the sun. They are then 

 placed in the pens according to their size. 

 Young hawksbills in captivity at Corn Island 

 attain a growth of about 12 inches in eighteen 

 months. 



The adult turtles are usually taken in tram- 

 mel nets, and they are speared sometimes by 

 the natives when seen in shallow water, as they 

 are more often observed on the bottom in such 



places than are green turtles or loggerheads. 

 They are both voracious and pugnacious, in 

 fact give considerable trouble by fighting 

 among themselves. They are fed daily on 

 mullet and other local fishes, and also on refuse 

 from butcher shops. After they have reached 

 a length of one foot the growth appears to 

 be slower, or at least less noticeable. The 

 turtle kraals at Corn Island have been in op- 

 eration for about two years. It has been defi- 

 nitely ascertained that the hawksbill will grow 

 new plates when they have been removed by 

 a hot iron. 



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DESTRUCTION OF OUR BIRDS AND MAMMALS. 



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