New York Zoological Society. 
GIGANTIC GALAPAGOS TORTOISE (Testudo vicina). Weight: 305 pounds. 
Length: 3% feet. Range: Southerly portion of Albemarle Island, Galapagos. 
beats down upon them too fiercely for comfort, they seek the shady shelter 
of some thorny bush. 
They are provided with a counterpart of the plover which picks 
leeches from crocodiles’ teeth. Little, red fly-catchers perch upon the tortoise 
and pick off the tiny grass seeds which get into the folds of its skin, the 
corners of its mouth and its nostrils. The tortoise apparently appreciates 
its little servant for it never evinces the slightest displeasure at its presence. 
An observer reported that he had seen one of the birds enjoying a ride on 
the back of a tortoise. It would fly off to pick up an insect and then return 
to its perch to continue the free ride. 
Other neighbors of the Galapagos tortoises are the wild cattle with 
which they live amicably. The cattle are descendants of those put ashore 
by sailors because they were breeding too fast in the holds of ships. The 
tortoises and the cattle will eat the same food and rest in the same area 
without getting into each other’s way. 
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