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: 



Length when hatched 8 1% oz. 



Length when one year old 18 9^ oz. 



Length when 22 months old 23 3 Ibs. 



Length when 29 months old 45 14 Ibs. 



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. 1^ 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 



