3^g CALIFORNIA ACADEMY OF SCIENCES [Proc. 4th Ser. 



General remarks. — See also remarks under T. guntheri. 

 Testudo vicina attains a very large size. The shell usually is 

 quite thick and heavy. The females are dome-shaped, while 

 the adult males have the front of the carapace considerably 

 elevated. In this elevation of the front of the carapace these 

 tortoises resemble the Tagus Cove and James Island species. 

 In Testudo darwini the central portion of the back rises higher 

 than in T. vicina. Testudo microphyes is a smoother, lighter 

 race, in which the back is nearly flat. Our only specimen from 

 Jervis Island is nearly intermediate between T. darwini and 

 T. vicina. 



Nine eggs (No. 8425) from tortoise No. 8388, collected 

 Nov. 2, 1905, about eight miles west of Vilamil, Albemarle 

 Island, measure 2.44x2, 2.30x2.20, 2.25x2.12, 2.25x2.10, 

 2.20x2.10, 2.20x2.08, 2.18x2.10, 2.10x1.95, and 2.08x2.04 

 inches. 



Field Notes. — March 16, 1906. — Sailing to get around 

 to Iguana Cove. Busy all day skinning tortoises, all hands help- 

 ing in the morning. There is hardly any wind, and we are 

 drifting with the current. We are nearly abeam of the moun- 

 tain near the Cove. It rises very abruptly, and seems to be 

 well covered with brush. Several black lava-flows can be seen, 

 and the plateau to the eastward is all new lava. 



March 17, 1906. — Anchored at noon in Iguana Cove. It is 

 a very bad anchorage, having deep water and heavy swells, 

 with not much room for the ship to swing. The coast is 

 heavily wooded with brush and trees, as at Cocos Island, and 

 is very abrupt, with many steep cliffs visible on the mountain 

 side. Beck, King, Williams, and I went down the coast to the 

 southward about two miles, and landed on a rocky beach to 

 hunt for tortoises. The country was covered with thick brush, 

 and the tortoise trails went along underneath, so that quite 

 often one had to go on hands and knees. The place where we 

 hunted was a small flat, where cactus and tall grass were fairly 

 abundant. We found three tortoises; all males. We drove 

 two of these down to the beach, as they were only seventy-five 

 or a hundred yards from the shore. They were too large to 

 get them into the boat. We failed to get them in while the 

 boat was on the beach. Then we towed one out and tried to 

 get him in ; but as the boat was in the breakers and half full of 



