THE ALLIGATOR'S LIFE HISTORY 19 



from a seven and one-half foot female alligator killed on 

 Marsh Island in 1914 by Maxmillian Touchet. I have 

 now a small alligator whose entire tail from its hind legs 

 to the end is a light, lemon yellow. Very old alligators 

 whether male or female lose to a large extent, the yellow 

 stripes and blotches seen on the back and sides of immature 

 specimens, and become almost solid black on back and sides. 

 The yellow markings that are so prominent in the young 

 being only faintly seen or being almost totally absent in the 

 old. The underparts, however, remain through life a dusky 

 yellow. 



Alligators being reptiles are oviparous that is, egg- 

 laying. The eggs are a perfect ellipse and much longer 

 than thick, and are covered with two protective layers. 

 The outer hard shell is considerably thicker than that of a 

 hen's, and is a glossy, clear white, coarse in texture, and 

 very porous. The inner flexible membrane is tough and 

 much thicker and stronger than that in a hen egg. There 

 are no air chambers in an alligator's eggs as are found in 

 those of birds. As soon as embryonic development begins, 

 the central one-half of the egg becomes chalky white, while 

 the one-fourth at each end remains clear. The albumen 

 in an alligator's egg is much stiffer and more dense than in 

 a hen's egg, and the color when fresh is a clear, pale, 

 yellowish green. The yolk which is light yellow, is quite 

 small in comparison to the size of the egg, and its sub- 

 stance is not nearly so stiff as that of the white. The 

 embryo develops in the egg of an alligator about the same 

 as the embryo develops in a chicken egg, and when ready 

 to hatch the little alligator lies curled inside the egg with 

 its back to the shell, its tail under its chin, and its nose, 

 upper jaw and top of its head lying flat against a side of the 

 egg, nose close to one end. In this position, by rubbing 

 the top of its nose against the egg's envelope, the sharp 

 point on top of its nose comes in contact with the inner 

 embryo envelope, and opens a hole through it, enabling 



