THE ALLIGATOR'S LIFE HISTORY 71 



only a bit louder, and sounding like the word "snar-r-r" if 

 pronounced in a deep voice. I have never heard a female 

 alligator roar or bellow. The male seems to be the only 

 one who uses this method of expression. 



The deep booming roar of a twelve foot male alligator is 

 a sound that once heard will never be forgotten. It is not 

 unlike the first boom note of the ostrich, or the deep, slow- 

 throat roar of the lion before he begins the quick short- 

 cough roars; but exceeds in volume both of these sounds. 

 It has much more volume and is deeper in tone than the 

 bellow of the largest of our domestic bulls. I know of no 

 sound, natural or artificial, that causes such a tremendous 

 vibration of the atmosphere as the full-throated roar of a 

 full-grown alligator. Often when near these reptiles as 

 they bellowed, I have felt a very distinct vibration of my 

 diaphragm caused by the trembling of the air by the broken 

 waves of sound thrown out by these great creatures. 



I have very many times witnessed big male alligators 

 roaring, and this sound is given generally when the beast 

 is in the water; but sometimes also when his head and part 

 of his body is on the bank. I have never heard one roar 

 when entirely out of the water, and have seen big, old bulls 

 slip off the bank into the water and roar in answer to the 

 roar of some other alligator calling near by. The pre- 

 liminary movement is a quick upward surge of the entire 

 body as it is filled with air taken in through the nostrils. 

 When thoroughly inflated, a large portion of the body 

 about one-third of the thickness from nose to tail rises 

 above the surface of the water. The second movement is 

 a throwing up of the head so that it is entirely above the 

 water at a sharp angle to the body, and with probably half 

 the neck elevated at an angle of about twenty-five degrees. 

 The tail is also elevated above the water at the same time, 

 with sometimes the tip arching down to the water and a 

 considerable portion of its length is waved from side to side 

 while in the air. The side skin of an alligator is made up of 



