GROWTH AND SIZE 17 



the heat of the sun, or by regular fermentation. From the 

 nest of the salt-water crocodile I have taken fifty-five eggs, 

 from the gavial forty-one and forty-four, from the Florida 

 crocodile twenty-six, and from the alligator thirty-eight. 

 The nest of the alligator is about 2 feet high and 4 feet in 

 diameter. 



At birth young alligators are about 8 inches long. As 

 soon as they are out of the shell, they are wide-eyed and alert, 

 and ready to take to the water. At this period the muzzle 

 is short, abnormally broad, and the arch of the forehead very 

 high. 



Growth and Size. — In the Reptile House of the New 

 York Zoological Park we have recorded the following facts 

 regarding the rate of growth of our alligators: 



INCHES WEIGHT 



Length when hatched 8 1^ oz. 



Length when one year old 18 9J4 oz. 



Length when 22 months old 23 3 lbs. 



Length when 29 months old 45 14 lbs. 



An alligator when received measured 6 ft. 11 in. 



During the first year it grew 1 ft. 3 in. and measured 8 ft. 2 in. 



During the second year it grew 1 ft. \y 2 in. and measured. ... 9 ft. 3^ in. 



During the third year it grew 1 ft. 7 in. and measured 10 ft. 10>£ in. 



Length of "Old Mose," July, 1899, 12 feet. 

 Length of "Old Mose," July, 1903, 12 ft. 5 in. 



Judging by the rate of growth of specimens of all sizes 

 under constant observation in the Zoological Park, where they 

 probably are growing as rapidly as they could in a wild state, 

 I have reached the conclusion that, under ordinary circum- 

 stances, a wild crocodile or alligator is about ten years in 



