The Biology of the CrocodiHa 21 



very persistent searchers for and eaters of alHgator 

 eggs. Having selected (with how much care it 

 is impossible to say) the location for the nest, the 

 alligator proceeds to collect, probably biting it 

 off with her teeth, a great mass of whatever vegeta- 

 tion happens to be most abundant in that imme- 

 diate vicinity. This mass of flags or of marsh grass 

 is piled into a conical or rounded heap and is 

 packed down by the builder repeatedly crawling 

 over it. 



There is a great deal of variation in the size and 

 form of the different nests, some being two meters 

 or more in diameter and nearly a meter in height, 

 while others are much smaller in diameter and so 

 low as to seem scarcely more than an accidental 

 pile of dead vegetation. It is probable that the 

 nests are under construction for some time, per- 

 haps to give time for the fresh vegetation of which 

 they are composed to ferment and soften, and 

 also for the material to settle into a more compact 

 mass. The compactness of the alligator's nest 

 was well illustrated one day when the writer used 

 an apparently deserted nest as a vantage ground 

 from which to take a photograph : on opening this 

 nest it was found, after all, to contain eggs, and 

 though some of the eggs were cracked, none of 

 them were badly crushed. This nest although it 

 was so low and flat that it was thought to be one 

 that had been used during some previous season, 

 contained forty -eight eggs, a greater number than 



