THE ALLIGATOR'S LIFE HISTORY 69 



CHAPTER VI 



VOICE 



The vocal ability of the alligator is exceedingly limited. 

 Their vocal chords are a pair of membranous folds inside 

 the glottis, which allows them to make only three sounds 

 audible to the human ear the "umph, umph, umph," a 

 call used from the day of hatching through maturity; the 

 quavering, sighing hiss given when angry; and the bellow 

 of the bulls which seem to be more a challenge to rivals 

 than for any other purpose, and may be long drawn out, 

 lasting seconds, or only a short deep cough. 



At the time the little alligators are ready to come out of 

 the egg, but before they are actually hatched, they make an 

 audible grunting sound umph, umph, umph, which sound 

 can be imitated exactly by the human voice if this syllable 

 is pronounced in a high key, with the lips closed. This 

 grunting sound is a signal to the mother that the little ones 

 are about ready to emerge from the egg, and the mother 

 with her jaws removes six to ten inches of the nest-material 

 from over the eggs so that the little ones, as they hatch, 

 can have easy access to the open world. 



That the mature alligators use the same shrill grunting 

 "umph" as is used in youth was brought to my notice as 

 follows : 



In May, 1892, I witnessed the last part of a fight be- 

 tween two large bulls, both of which I captured alive. One 

 of them measured nine feet, eight inches, and was very 

 heavy of body with an unusually large head; the other 

 measured eleven feet, five inches, and was much more slen- 

 der. By the conformation and size of the head, I 

 think the shorter one was the older of the two. I 



