THE CROCODILIANS 81 



rotary movement. Such exhibitions of rage were fre- 

 quent. A stick poked at one of the reptiles was in- 

 stantly seized and whirled out of the hand unless firmly 

 held. All three of the specimens began feeding after 

 a time, taking fish, mice and sparrows. With the in- 

 creasing appetite came no signs of docility. The 

 writer's mere approach started a vigorous hissing and 

 three cottony-white mouths yawned widely for a chance 

 to grasp some offending object, then dismember it by 

 a quick twist. 



Seemingly confined to the island of Cuba is a small 

 species appropriately termed the Cuban Crocodile, C. 

 rhombifer. An adult is only seven or eight feet long. 

 Meeting in front of the eyes is a pair of oblique ridges, 

 which, together with the inner borders of the orbits, 

 combine in forming a rhomb-like prominence. While 

 the head is triangular and appeals to that of the two 

 preceding species, it is broader, shorter and not so grad- 

 ually tapering — hence the placing of this crocodile (and 

 several others on the list) in another group, according 

 to the outline of the head. The small size has no bearing 

 on the temper. Two examples in the New York 

 Zoological Park were extremely fierce, snapping at any 

 one who came near their tank. As the food was brought 

 they threw the forward portion of the body high out 

 of the water by suddenly elevating the tail — the effect 

 being a seesaw movement assisted by an upward leap. 

 The seven-foot specimen could spring a yard from the 

 water. The keeper was invariably careful of his hands 

 when near the tank. 



Rather alligator-like, from the short and broad snout, 

 the Marsh Crocodile, or "Mugger," C. palustris, has 

 almost as extensive a distribution as Crocodilus porosus 

 — the Salt- Water Crocodile. Though another burly 



