138 PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF [Mar., 



blow. On June 13, 1912, a large-sized alligator was seen to slowly 

 sink below the surface as several members of the party in a small 

 boat were making a trip on Minne Lake. Bryant Lee "grunted" 

 the animal to the surface, where it was shot, but not killed. It 

 rose within a foot or two of the boat and performed a most remarkable 

 series of spinning movements, revolving rapidly on its tail with its 

 body directly upright and the head out of the water. Several shots 

 and repeated blows of the paddle were required before it finally 

 sank. 



The alligators of the Okefinokee showed no variation, so far as our 

 observations went, from the ordinary form of A. mississippiensis, 

 which has been sufficiently well described by various authors to 

 make a description in this record unnecessary. The young which 

 were preserved agree also with the published descriptions and are 

 most brilliantly marked in the smaller specimens. As the animal 

 increases in age, the fifteen transverse yellow bands become fainter 

 and the dorsal crest more pronounced. In the very young specimens 

 the dorsal tubercles of the neck are entirely absent. 



No nests of eggs were found, but a number of eggs were taken 

 from the bodies of those killed. In one specimen (No. 6,493) were 

 found twenty mature eggs, ready for depositing. These eggs have 

 completely formed shells which are thin and soft, not brittle, and 

 grajdsh-white in color, with a granular coating which rubs off on 

 handling. The average length of these eggs is 3 inches and the 

 average diameter If inches. From a female 8| feet long, taken on 

 Billy's Lake, June 11, 1912, were taken 42 embryonic eggs ranging 

 in size from J to If inches in diameter, almost spherical and of a 

 dark orange color. The skin of these eggs is soft and smooth and 

 covered with shreds of connective tissue. With this female was a 

 large male about 11 feet long. 



Both the eggs and the flesh of the alligator are eaten by the inhabi- 

 tants of the swamp, and the tails of the young proved to be a very 

 acceptable article of diet. The meat is firm and white and in taste 

 somewhat resembles that of pike. 



One alligator was taken by Mr. John Needham on Billy's Lake 

 in December, 1913, but this was the only specimen seen on the trip 

 made at that time. Evidently, however, the alligators do not 

 entirely disappear even during that season of the year. 

 17. Crocodilus americanus Laurenti. 



No crocodiles were found in the Okefinokee. Nevertheless, there 

 is a persistent idea throughout the region of the swamp that these 



