444 



LOWER VERTEBRATES. 



a time a pelagic life, repairing to the shore only to deposit their eggs, which are 

 buried, often to the number of two hundred or more, in the sand. Sea-turtles are of 

 considerable Talue as food, though the East Indian species are not as generally used, 

 because of the poisonous qualities supposed to be acquired at certain seasons of the 

 year. Extinct members of the family have been found in the tertiary deposits. 



The genus Thalassochelys has fifteen vertebra,l and costal shields, which are thin 

 and not imbricate. The American loggerhead, T. caouana, is a carnivorous form, 

 living on fishes, crustaceans, possibly sponges, and especially on the soft parts, which 

 they obtain by nipping off the spire, of the large conches so abundant in the more 





'if/UUIHBf^-' 



Fig. 261.—Eretmoclielijs imbricala, liawk's-bill tui-tle, caret. 



southern waters. It is found along the Atlantic coast, from Brazil to Massachusetts, 

 and is not infrequently captured about the southern shores of Europe and in the 

 Mediterranean. During the months of April, May, and June, their breeding season, 

 they are to be seen about the low, sandy islands of the southern and gulf states, when 

 they are much less suspicious than usual, allowing boats to approach quite near to 

 them, and are hence captured at this time in large numbers. At night the females 

 approach the shore, and dispose of their eggs, which, as well as those of the green-turtle, 

 are eagerly sought after by fishermen. For food, the flesh of this species is inferior, 

 being rank ancf tough. Instances of the loggerhead weighing over 450 pounds are 

 rare, much less in weight, it will be seen, than the green-turtle. An Indian Ocean 



