218 LIFE OF AUDUBON. 



"But the Tortugas are not the only breeding-places of 

 the turtle : these animals, on the contrary, frequent many other 

 keys as well as various parts of the coast of the mainland. 

 There are four different species, which are known by the names 

 of the green turtle, the hawk- billed turtle, the logger-head turtle, 

 and the trunk turtle. The first is considered the best as an 

 article of food, in which capacity it is well known to most 

 epicures. It approaches the shores, and enters the bays, inlets, 

 and rivers, early in the month of April, after having spent the 

 winters in the deep waters. It deposits its eggs in convenient 

 places, at two different times, in May, and once again in June. 

 The first deposit is the largest, and the last the least, the total 

 quantity being at an average about two hundred and forty. 

 The hawk-billed turtle, whose shell is so valuable as an article 

 of commerce, being used for various purposes in the arts, is the 

 next with respect to the quality of its flesh. It resorts to the 

 outer keys only, where it deposits its eggs in two sets, first in 

 July and again in August, although it crawls the beaches much 

 earlier in the season, as if to look for a safe place. The average 

 number of its eggs is about three hundred. The logger-head 

 visits the Tortugas in April, and lays from that period until 

 late in June three sets of eggs, each set averaging a hundred 

 and seventy. The trunk turtle, which is sometimes of an 

 enormous size, and which has a pouch like a pelican, reaches 

 the shores latest. The shell and fish are so soft that one may 

 push the finger into them almost as into a lump of butter. 

 This species' is therefore considered as the least valuable, and 

 indeed is seldom eaten, imless by the Indians, who ever alert 

 when the turtle season commences, first carry off the eggs 

 which it lays in the season, and afterwards catch the turtles 

 themselves. The average number of eggs which it lays at two 

 sets may be three hundred and fifty. 



" The logger-head and the trunk turtles are the least cautious 

 in choosing the places in which to deposit their eggs, whereas 

 the two other species select the wildest and most secluded spots. 

 The green turtle resorts either to the shores of the Maine, 

 between Cape Sable and Cape Florida, or enters Indian, Halifax, 

 and other large rivers or inlets, from which it makes its retreat 

 as speedily as possible, and betakes itself to the open sea. 



