The Audubon Reader (52 page)

While at Key West and other islands on the coast, where I made the observations here presented to you, I chanced to have need to purchase some turtles to feed my friends on board the
Lady of the Green Mantle
—not my friends her gallant officers or the brave tars who formed her crew, for all of them had already been satiated with turtle soup, but my friends the Herons, of which I had a goodly number alive in coops, intending to carry them to John Bachman of Charleston and other persons for whom I ever feel a sincere regard. So I went to a “crawl” accompanied by Dr. Benjamin Strobel to inquire about prices when, to my surprise, I found that the smaller the turtles above ten pounds weight the dearer they were, and that I could have purchased one of the loggerhead kind that weighed more than seven hundred pounds for little more money than another of only thirty pounds. While I gazed on the large one I thought of the soups the contents of its shell would have furnished for a “Lord Mayor’s dinner,” of the numerous eggs which its swollen body contained and of the curious carriage which might be made of its shell—a car in which Venus herself might sail over the Caribbean sea provided her tender doves lent their aid in drawing the divinity and provided no shark or hurricane came to upset it. The turtler assured me that although the “great monster” was in fact better meat than any other of a less size there was no disposing of it unless indeed it had been in his power to have sent it to some very distant market. I would willingly have purchased it but I knew that if killed, its flesh could not keep much
longer than a day, and on that account I bought eight or ten small ones, which “my friends” really relished exceedingly and which served to support them for a long time.

Turtles such as I have spoken of are caught in various ways on the coasts of the Floridas or in estuaries and rivers. Some
turtlers are in the habit of setting great nets across the entrance of streams so as to answer the purpose either at the flow or at the ebb of the waters. These nets are formed of very large meshes into which the turtles partially enter when, the more they attempt to extricate themselves, the more they get entangled. Others harpoon them in the usual manner; but in my estimation no method is equal to that employed by Mr. Egan, the pilot of Indian Isle.

That extraordinary turtler had an iron instrument which he called a
peg
and which at each end had a point not unlike what nail-makers call a brad, it being four-cornered but flattish and of a shape somewhat resembling the beak of an Ivory-billed Woodpecker together with a neck and shoulder. Between the two shoulders of this instrument a fine tough line fifty or more fathoms in length was fastened by one end being passed through a hole in the center of the peg, and the line itself was carefully coiled up and placed in a convenient part of the canoe. One extremity of this peg enters a sheath of iron that loosely attaches it to a long wooden spear until a turtle has been pierced through the shell by the other extremity. He of the canoe paddles away as silently as possible whenever he spies a turtle basking on the water until he gets within a distance of ten or twelve yards, when he throws the spear so as to hit the animal about the place which an entomologist would choose, were it a large insect, for pinning it to a piece of cork. As soon as the turtle is struck the wooden handle separates from the peg in consequence of the looseness of its attachment. The smart of the wound urges on the animal as if distracted, and it appears that the longer the peg remains in its shell, the more firmly fastened it is, so great a pressure is exercised upon it by the shell of the turtle, which being suffered to run like a whale soon becomes fatigued and is secured by hauling in the line with great care. In this manner, as the pilot informed me, eight hundred green turtles were caught by one man in twelve months.

Each turtler has his
crawl
, which is a square wooden building
or pen formed of logs which are so far separated as to allow the tide to pass freely through and stand erect in the mud. The turtles are placed in this enclosure, fed and kept there until sold. If the animals thus confined have not laid their eggs previous to their seizure they drop them in the water, so that they are lost. The price of
green turtles when I was at Key West was from four to six cents per pound.

The loves of the turtles are conducted in a most extraordinary manner; but as the recital of them must prove out of place here I shall pass them over. There is, however, a circumstance relating to their habits which I cannot omit although I have it not from my own ocular evidence but from report. When I was in the Floridas several of the turtlers assured me that any turtle taken from the depositing ground and carried on the deck of a vessel several hundred miles would, if then let loose, certainly be met with at the same spot either immediately after or in the following breeding season. Should this prove true, and it certainly may, how much will be enhanced the belief of the student in the uniformity and solidity of Nature’s arrangements when he finds that the turtle, like a migratory bird, returns to the same locality with perhaps a delight similar to that experienced by the traveler who, after visiting distant countries, once more returns to the bosom of his cherished family.

As the
Marion
was nearing the curious islets of the
Tortugas, one of the birds that more particularly attracted my notice was of this species. The nearer we approached the land, the more numerous did they become, and I felt delighted with the hope that before many days should elapse, I should have an opportunity of studying their habits. As night drew her somber curtain over the face of Nature, some of these birds alighted on the top yard of our bark, and I observed ever afterwards that they manifested a propensity to roost at as great a height as possible above the surrounding objects, making choice of the tops of bushes or even upright poles and disputing with each other the privilege. The first that was shot at was approached with considerable difficulty: it had alighted on the prong of a tree which had floated and been fastened to the bottom of a rocky shallow at some distance from shore; the water was about four feet deep and quite rough; sharks, we well knew, were abundant around us, but the desire to procure the bird was too strong to be overcome by such obstacles. In an instant the pilot and myself were over the sides of the boat, and onward we proceeded with our guns cocked and ready. The yawl was well manned and its crew awaiting the result. After we had struggled through the turbulent waters about a hundred yards, my companion raised his gun and fired; but away flew the bird with a broken leg, and we saw no more of it that day. Next day, however, at the same hour, the Booby was seen perched on the same prong where, after resting about three hours, it made off to the open sea, doubtless in search of food.

About eight miles to the northeast of the Tortugas lighthouse lies a small sand bar a few acres in extent called Booby Island, on account of the number of birds of this species that resort to it during the breeding season, and to it we accordingly went. We found it not more than a few feet above the surface of the water, but covered with Boobies, which lay basking in the sunshine and pluming themselves. Our attempt to land on the island before the birds should fly off proved futile, for before we were within fifty yards of it they had all betaken themselves to flight and were dispersing in various directions. We landed however, distributed
ourselves in different parts and sent the boat to some distance, the pilot assuring us that the birds would return. And so it happened. As they approached, we laid ourselves as flat as possible in the sand, and although none of them alighted, we attained our object, for in a couple of hours we procured thirty individuals of both sexes and of different ages, finding little difficulty in bringing them down as they flew over us at a moderate height. The wounded birds that fell on the ground made immediately for the water, moving with more ease than I had expected from the accounts usually given of the awkward motions of these birds on the land. Those which reached the water swam off with great buoyancy, and with such rapidity, that it took much rowing to secure some of them, while most of those that fell directly into the sea with only a wing broken, escaped.

The island was covered with their dung, the odor of which extended to a considerable distance leeward. In the evening of the same day we landed on another island named after the
Noddy and thickly covered with bushes and low trees, to which thousands of that species of Tern resort for the purpose of breeding. There also we found a great number of Boobies. They were perched on the top branches of the trees, on which they had
nests, and here again we obtained as many as we desired. They flew close over our heads, eyeing us with dismay but in silence; indeed, not one of these birds ever emitted a cry, except at the moment when they rose from their perches or from the sand. Their note is harsh and guttural, somewhat like that of a strangled pig, and resembling the syllables
hork, hork
.

The nest of the Booby is placed on the top of a bush at a height of from four to ten feet. It is large and flat, formed of a few dry sticks, covered and matted with seaweeds in great quantity. I have no doubt that they return to the same nest many years in succession, and repair it as occasion requires. In all the nests which I examined only one egg was found, and as most of the birds were sitting, and some of the
eggs had the chick nearly ready for exclusion, it is probable that these birds raise only a single young one, like the
Common Gannet or
Solan Goose. The egg is of a dull white color, without spots and about the size of that of a common hen, but more elongated, being 2⅜ inches in length, with a diameter of 1¾.
In some nests they were covered with filth from the parent bird in the manner of the
Florida Cormorant. The
young, which had an uncouth appearance, were covered with down; the bill and feet of a deep livid blue or indigo color. On being touched they emitted no cry, but turned away their heads at every trial. A great quantity of fish lay beneath the trees in a state of putrefaction, proving how abundantly the young birds were supplied by their parents. Indeed, while we were on
Noddy Island, there was a constant succession of birds coming in from the sea with
food for their young, consisting chiefly of flying fish and small mullets, which they disgorged in a half macerated state into the open throats of their offspring. Unfortunately, the time afforded me on that coast was not sufficient to enable me to trace the progress of their growth. I observed, however, that none of the birds which were still brown had nests, and that they roosted apart, particularly on Booby Island, where also many barren ones usually resorted, to lie on the sand and bask in the sun.

The
flight of the Booby is graceful and extremely protracted. They pass swiftly at a height of from twenty yards to a foot or two from the surface, often following the troughs of the waves to a considerable distance, their wings extended at right angles to the body; then, without any apparent effort, raising themselves and allowing the rolling waters to break beneath them, when they tack about and sweep along in a contrary direction in search of food, much in the manner of the true Petrels. Now, if you follow an individual, you see that it suddenly stops short, plunges headlong into the water, pierces with its powerful beak and secures a fish, emerges again with inconceivable ease, after a short interval rises on wing, performs a few wide circlings and makes off towards some shore. At this time its flight is different, being performed by flappings for twenty or thirty paces, with alternate sailings of more than double that space. When overloaded with food, they alight on the water where, if undisturbed, they appear to remain for hours at a time, probably until digestion has afforded them relief.

The range to which this species confines itself along our coast seldom extends beyond Cape Hatteras to the eastward, but they become more and more numerous the farther south we proceed. They breed abundantly on all such islands or keys as are adapted
for the purpose, on the southern and western coasts of the
Floridas and in the
Gulf of Mexico, where I was told they breed on the sand bars. Their power of wing seems sufficient to enable them to brave the tempest, while during a continuance of fair weather they venture to a great distance seaward, and I have seen them fully 200 miles from land.

The expansibility of the
gullet of this species enables it to swallow
fishes of considerable size, and on such occasions their mouth seems to spread to an unusual width. In the throats of several individuals that were shot as they were returning to their nests, I found mullets measuring seven or eight inches that must have weighed fully half a pound. Their body beneath the skin is covered with numerous air-cells which probably assist them in raising or lowering themselves while on wing, and perhaps still more so when on the point of performing the rapid plunge by which they secure their prey.

Their principal
enemies during the breeding season are the American Crow and the Fish Crow, both of which destroy their eggs, and the
Turkey Buzzard, which devours their
young while yet unfledged. They breed during the month of May, but I have not been able to ascertain if they raise more than one brood in the season. The adult birds chase away those which are yet immature during the period of incubation. It would seem that they take several years in attaining their perfect state.

When procured alive, they feed freely and may be kept any length of time, provided they are supplied with fish. No other
food, however, could I tempt them to swallow, excepting slices of turtle, which after all they did not seem to relish. In no instance did I observe one drinking. Some authors have stated that the
Frigate Pelican and the
Lestris
[i.e., the
Jager] force the Booby to disgorge its food that they may obtain it; but this I have never witnessed. Like the
Common Gannet, they may be secured by fastening a fish to a soft plank and sinking it a few feet beneath the surface of the water, for if they perceive the bait, which they are likely to do if they pass over it, they plunge headlong upon it, and drive their bill into the wood.