THE REPTILES 195 
sionally met with, and at sea several turtles exist, some of 
them of great size. Among these is the leather-turtle, 
found in the warmer waters of the Atlantic, lazily floating 
at the surface or actively engaged in capturing food. They 
attain a length of from six to eight feet, and a weight of 
over a thousand pounds, and are sometimes captured for 
food when they come ashore to bury their eggs in the sand. 
By this same method the loggerheads, the hawkbills, and 
the common green turtles are also captured in consider- 
able numbers. These are of smaller size, and the second 
named is of considerable value, as the horny plates cover- 
ix ay ee ot 
Fie. 117.—Hawkbill turtle (Hretmochelys imbricata). 
ing the shell furnish the tortoise-shell of commerce. These 
plates are removed after the animal is killed, by soaking 
in warm water or by the application of heat. 
184. Food and digestive system.—Some reptiles, among 
which are a number of species of lizards and the box- and 
green turtles, are vegetarians, but the great majority are 
