. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of the various orders; with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . ese suck-fish into the sea. The fish dives under the Turtle, and fixesitself inextricably to it by means of their cephalic disk. As the fishis attached to a long cord by means of a ring in its tail, the fiah HAWKS-BILL TUETLE. 17^ is drawn on board along with its victim. This is line fishing of anew kind, in which the hook is living, and pursues its prey in thebosom of the deep. The Green Turtle, whose flesh is celebrated for its delicacy andexcellence of its f
. Reptiles and birds : a popular account of the various orders; with a description of the habits and economy of the most interesting . ese suck-fish into the sea. The fish dives under the Turtle, and fixesitself inextricably to it by means of their cephalic disk. As the fishis attached to a long cord by means of a ring in its tail, the fiah HAWKS-BILL TUETLE. 17^ is drawn on board along with its victim. This is line fishing of anew kind, in which the hook is living, and pursues its prey in thebosom of the deep. The Green Turtle, whose flesh is celebrated for its delicacy andexcellence of its fat, is that from which Turtle soup is made. Turtlesoup is only of recent invention, the first Turtle having beenbrought to London by Admiral Anson in 1752. It was long acostly dish, and even now, although the introduction of steam andother adjuncts to navigation has greatly modified the expense,its price is about ten shiUings per pound weight. Much of the tortoise-shell of commerce comes from the GreenTurtle, but by far the finest specimens are produced by the Imbri-cated or Hawks-bill Turtle, Chelonia caretta (Fig. 42). In this. Fig. 43.—Loggerhead Turtle (Chelonia caouana). species the plates of the disk are imbricated, or lapping over eachother, and thirteen in number. The muzzle is long and compressed ;the jaws with straight edges, without dentation, curving slightlytowards each other at their extremities, with two nails on eachfin. It rarely attains the size or weight of the Green Hawks-biU Turtle is met with in the Indian Ocean, and alsoon the American shores. It feeds on marine plants, on moUusks,and small fishes, and is chiefly sought after for its shell, whichproduces the finest tortoise-shell known ; while its flesh is rendered N 178 CHELONIANS. unpalatable from its musky flavour. On the other hand, its eggsare excellent when fresh, and eagerly sought after. In order to prepare the shell, it is softened by means of boilingafter being torn from the animals
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecad, booksubjectbirds, booksubjectreptiles
