358 YERTEBIiATA. 
THE IMBRICATED TURTLE OVERTURNED. 
as many as tliey require in tlie same manner, carry them off to their sMj>s. These turtles are 
often seen in the "waters of the West India Islands, in tlie Gulf of Mexico, on the Atlantic coasts 
of America and Africa, and in various parts of the Pacific and Indian Oceans ; when not en- 
gaged in feeding, they float on the water, sometimes many miles from land ; they are then ap- 
parently asleep, and are easily approached and captured. Audubon gives the foUoAving interest- 
ing account of the manner in which the female deposits her eggs, w^hich he appears to have 
observed along the coast of Florida. 
" On first nearing the shore, and mostly on fine moonlight evenings, the turtle raises her head 
above the water, being still distant thirty or forty yards from the beach, looks around her, and 
attentively examines the objects on shore. Should she observe nothing likely to disturb her 
intended operations, she emits a loud, hissing sound, by Avhich such of her many enemies as are 
unaccustomed to it are startled, and so are apt to remove to another place, although unseen by 
her. Should she hear any noise, or perceive any indications of danger, she instantly sinks, and 
goes ofi" to a considerable distance ; but should every thing be quiet, she advances slowly toward 
the beach, crawls over it, her head raised to the full stretch of her neck, and when she has reached 
a place fitted for her purpose, she gazes all around in silence. 
" Finding ' all well,' she proceeds to form a hole in the sand, which she effects by removing it 
from under her body with her hind flappers, scooping- it out with so much dexterity that the 
sides seldom if ever fall. The sand is raised alternately with each flapper, as wdth a large ladle, 
until it has accumulated behind her, when, supporting herself ^vith her head and fore part on the 
ground fronting her body, she, with a spring from each flapper, sends the sand around her, scat- 
tering it to the distance of several feet. In this manner the hole is dug to the depth of eighteen 
inches, or sometimes more than tAvo feet. This labor I have seen pei-formed in the short period 
of nine minutes. The eggs are then dropped one by one, and disposed in regular layers to the 
number of a hundred and fifty, or sometimes nearly tAVO hundred The Avhole time spent in this 
part of the operation may be about twenty minutes. She now scrapes the loose sand back over 
the eggs, and so levels and smooths the surface that few persons on seeing the spot could 
imagine that any thing had been done to it. Tliis accomplished to her mind, she retreats to the 
water with all possible dispatch, leaving the hatching of the eggs to the heat of the sand. 
" When a Turtle, or Loggerhead, for example, is in the act of dropping her eggs, she Avill not 
move, although one should go up to her, or even seat himself on her back, for it seems at this 
moment she finds it necessary to proceed at all events, and is unable to intermit her labor. The 
moment it is finished, however, off she starts ; nor would it then be possible for one, unless he 
were as strong as Hei-cules, to turn her over and secure her. 
