48 REPTILES AND BATRACHIANS 



or eight longitudinal series. The colour is dark brown or 

 olive, lighter on the sides ; in the young it is yellowish, 

 speckled or banded with black. 



This Crocodile lays from forty to sixty eggs, which are 

 deposited during the spring in holes in the sand, where 

 they are hatched in from four to six weeks, the young at 

 once making for the water. 



The Nile Crocodile is credited with very great ferocity, 

 and as it is annually responsible for the loss of many lives, 

 in certain localities, the plan of paying a small sum to the 

 natives for every egg collected has been adopted, with the 

 result that in such parts the young crocodiles are gradually 

 being reduced in numbers. Many eggs are dug up and 

 eaten by Monitor Lizards, and possibly by Trionyx 

 Turtles. 



The American Crocodile, C. americanus, of Central and 

 South America greatly resembles the Nile Crocodile, 

 but may be distinguished by the presence of a longitu- 

 dinal swelling, or ridge, along the middle of the snout. 

 The dorsal scutes are disposed in fifteen or sixteen trans- 

 verse, and four or six longitudinal rows. 



This crocodile, which is quite similar in colour to 

 C. niloticus, attains a length of about fifteen feet. It has 

 a decided preference for brackish water, and is even 

 occasionally met with in the open sea, some distance away 

 from the mainland. 



The Mugger, C. palustris, is found throughout India, 

 Ceylon, and Burma, but is very rare in the Malay Peninsula 

 and Archipelago. The snout is shorter and broader than 

 in the other Crocodiles. The maximum length attained 

 is about sixteen feet. 



