THE ALLIGATOR'S LIFE HISTORY 75 



When a bull alligator roars, it, on raising its head above 

 the water, opens the two musk glands located in the skin 

 under and on each side near the bones of the lower jaw, and 

 throws off a considerable quantity of sweet pungent-smelling 

 musk that not only scents the air but the surface of the 

 water as well, and lingers as a strong perfume in the vicinity 

 for some hours. There is positively nothing visable in the 

 throwing off of this musk, such as has been described in 

 many of the written records of alligators. The female does 

 not seem to make use of the jaw musk glands of the under 

 neck, except when fighting to protect her nest or young or 

 herself, but does throw off, during the mating season, a con- 

 siderable amount of strong sweet-smelling musk from two 

 musk glands located in the inside wall on each side of the 

 cloaca. The musk glands of both the lower jaw and the 

 cloaca are filled with a thick brownish-yellow waxy mass 

 that is exposed to the air at will by the individual, by the 

 spreading of the opening of the glands and a contraction of 

 the muscles surrounding them. At such a time the inside 

 of the glands are forced out so that they appear as a rough 

 brown mass above the surface of the body skin, and at this 

 time the air is filled with the musky odor, by coming in con- 

 tact with the exposed musk surface; there is no spraying 

 of musk as a jet into the air. 



