298
Cambridge, Mass.
1898.
Oct. 28.
(No.3).
  The netting that we put over the turtle's eggs on the
22nd Oct. was the sieve from the ash-barrel inverted. This
precluded any chance of escape on the part of the young tur-
tles. I have visited the place every day since then without
seeing any change on the surface of the ground. John was the
last to go there yesterday at about three o'clock in the af-
ternoon.
  I made a call there this morning at 9.30 A.M. and was
much pleased to find a young turtle out and resting on the
ground against the side of the sieve an so much the color of
the soil that at first I did not see it at all. The turtle
was perfectly still with head and legs partly exposed and
tail curled around against the side of the shell. The shell
measured 1 inch long by 1.1 inches wide. The tail was very
long in proportion to the body, being 1.2 inches long.
  On searching for the hole whence the young turtle had e-
merged I found the old hole of Oct. 22nd had been enlarged
what was apparently the pieces of old shell filling up
one half while the other half was the exit for the turtle of
to-day. This hole was 3/4 by 1/2 in. in extent on the surface
and went down at an angle of about 45 degrees for the depth
of 3 inches and at the bottom I could see the white surface of
an egg shell. I am doubtful whether this shell belongs to
the turtle just hatched for when I gently poked the shell with