198 



MEDITERRANEAN PROVINCE. 



region, as also the Crocodiles and Monitors of its 

 African boundary, we see how largely, and with 

 what striking forms, the Reptilian order becomes 

 represented here. 



The Leathery Turtle (Sphargis coriacea) ranges 

 throughout the whole extent of the Mediterranean, 

 and even into the Black Sea. In the waters of the 

 eastern portion it is common, and it was of the 

 shell of this species that, according to the mytho- 

 logy of Greece, the first stringed instrument of 

 music was made. 



Its breeding-places are along the sandy shores of 

 the southern Mediterranean ; it is here that it is 

 most abundant, and it is rather western than east- 

 ern. It attains a great size — upwards of seven 

 feet in length ; its paddles are long and broad. 



Somewhat rarer than the foregoing is the Caou- 

 ane (Testudo caretta), also southern and western in 

 its Mediterranean range. It resorts to the coasts 

 of the island of Sardinia, where, as at Cagliari, con- 

 siderable numbers are taken. Both these Turtles 

 have an extensive Atlantic distribution, reaching 

 far down the West African coast, and across to those 

 of America ; they are true members of the Medi- 

 terranean fauna, but represent its West African, 

 rather than its Lusitanian elements. 



The Mediterranean has no peculiar Cetaceans. 

 The Atlantic forms which ordinarily range there are 

 few, and have been mostly recorded from the Gulf 

 of Genoa and the western portion. 



The common Dolphin {Delpliinus delphis) of our 



