96 THE ALLIGATOR'S LIFE HISTORY 



She came slowly up the path to the nest, went part way 

 round it, then climbed on top, and putting her head and 

 forepart over the southern edge and her tail pointing north, 

 began hollowing out the center with her hind feet, pushing 

 the wet material from the center to the sides by drawing 

 her hind feet alternately forward and pushing them back 

 and down with considerable force, turning her body about 

 the rim of the nest as the hollow progressed. This hollow 

 was not made as wide as the first hollow, but was deeper, 

 and as it was in softer material, much more quickly made. 

 At 12:35 P.M., she placed her hind legs on each side of 

 the hollow and began at once depositing her eggs. The 

 eggs were laid quite rapidly and regularly at first, as near 

 as I could time, one every nine seconds. As the eggs were 

 deposited the alligator turned slowly, the center part of her 

 body following irregularly the inside rim of the nest-hollow, 

 forward and back. I could not keep an accurate count of 

 the eggs laid, as I was too busy timing the operation and 

 making notes, but when about thirty eggs had been laid, 

 there was a pause of sixteen minutes, during which time 

 she kept quiet and relaxed. Then straightening up some- 

 what, she began to drop eggs; after six had been laid she 

 again paused, and after seven minutes rest laid five more. 

 Then rested quietly for eight minutes, then pushed her body 

 to one side of the top of the nest, taking a large mouth- 

 ful of wet mashed rushes and trash from the side rim of the 

 nest where it had been pushed from the center while making 

 the hollow to contain her eggs, she dropped the mouthful 

 on top of the eggs, and continued doing this until the cavity 

 in which the eggs lay was filled to the top with the wet 

 mixture of broken rushes and trash. The old alligator 

 then slid down the edge of the nest, went to the pond, and 

 I could hear her pulling and tearing at the growing rushes. 

 In a few minutes back to the nest she came with a large 

 mouthful of broken rushes and material from below the 

 surface of the water and dropped it on top of the nest as 



