22 THE ALLIGATOR'S LIFE HISTORY 



nesting site. The usual nesting site is wet marshes or 

 swamps, and often in water several inches deep. 



Page 178 "She carries the paillie fine, bulrush, three- 

 cornered rush, cat-tail, saw grass, or other marsh vegeta- 

 tion in her mouth and piles it into a rounded heap from 

 18 to 20 inches high, and from 3 to 4 feet across. This 

 first layer completed, the first eggs are laid, and then 

 grass is added and more eggs laid, until the nest reaches 

 a height of 3 feet." 



The nest is practically completed so far as height is con- 

 cerned, before the eggs are laid. The eggs are laid all at 

 one continuous operation, and no grass is put between them. 



Page 179 "One noteworthy thing reported by alli- 

 gator hunters is that there are two color phases in Louisi- 

 ana black and yellow. They seem to hatch in these 

 colors and hold the phase almost to maturity and the 

 two phases come from the same nest." 



The different color between alligators is due to the 

 water in which they live. Those living in swamp water 

 are always much darker than those from tide-water or the 

 water of drainage streams. The young from the same nest 

 are always the same color. 



Page 180 "Bullfrogs eat a great many." 



How can a bullfrog, with a stomach of less than four 

 inches, swallow even a day old alligator, whose length is 

 at least eight inches ! Then the mother would make short 

 work of any frog catching its young. 



Page 180 "At the time they hatch, the alligators 

 are from five to seven inches in length. They grow from 

 four to six inches the first year; in two years they are 

 from sixteen to eighteen inches in length. From three 

 years and up they grow rapidly until they reach the 



