144 



NEW YORK ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY. 



ALLIGATORS IN THEIR SUMMER POOL. 



from an authority of the United States Fisheries Bureau, who 

 says, in one of the government pubhcations : "AUigators grow 

 very slowly. At fifteen years of age they are only two feet long. 

 A twelve-footer may be reasonably supposed to be seventy-five 

 years of age." 



Our observations in the Reptile House have enabled us to 

 look well into the development and habits of the Alligator. This 

 article is the result of seven years' accumulation of notes, during 

 which time, among several series of examples, the writer has 

 been able to gauge the rate of growth of the Alligator from the 

 time of hatching up to the twelve-foot reptile — and a specimen 

 of the latter size is a giant, nowadays. In a period of six years, 

 the writer has succeeded in hatching alligator eggs, and rearing 

 the young to a length of over five feet. Inasmuch as alligators of 

 various sizes were received at the Reptile House seven years ago, 

 at the opening of the building, we are able to approximately carry 

 our records of the rate of growth from the young specimens 

 hatched in the Park, through other series that have attained much 

 larger growth during the time specified. As will be explained 

 later, wild crocodilians seem to grow much faster than those in 

 captivity, notwithstanding all possible facilities and food abun- 



