CLASS III HEPTILIA: ORDER 2. LORICATA. 



371 



TUB CAIMAN, 



it seems not only to he the common noise of the reptiles, but also their love song, which they 

 emit frequently and freely in the pairing season. The history of the pairing is not very com- 

 plete, but tlierc are some reasons for concluding that they are polygamous. The males engage 

 in fierce though uncouth battles at that season, and not, as has been observed, at any other ; 

 and the fair inference is that these are battles of gallantry. They usually take place in the 

 water, though in the shallows rather than the depths ; and, at first at least, they are bouts of 

 cudgel-play, rather than battles with the teeth. When it comes to the latter, they are desperate, 

 and the death of one, sonaetimes of both, is inevitable. It is said that the alligator can give no 

 second bite, and as little is it disposed to leave the first one till the object Avhich it seizes is 

 fairly under water. The jaws close in the same manner as those of the biting turtles, and 

 they can with difficulty be Avrenched asunder, even by a lever of considerable length. 



On some occasions the alligators beset the mouth of some retired creek, into which they have 

 prcAaously driven the fish, bellowing so loud that they may be heard at the distance of a mile. 

 To catch the fish they dive under the shoal, and having secured one, rise to the surface, toss it 

 into the air to get rid of the water which they necessarily take in along with it, and catch it 

 again in its descent. When, however, they succeed in capturing a land animal which is too large 

 to be swallowed at a single mouthful, they conceal the body beneath the bank till it begins to 

 putrefy, for as their teeth are not formed for cutting or masticating, they are unable to tear the 

 tough flesh in its fresh state; it is then dragged on shore and devoure<^at leisure. 



When about to lay, the female digs a deep hole in the sand, and deposits her eggs in layers, 

 separated from one another by intervening strata of leaves and dry grass. It ^voidd appear that 

 she lays only one batch of eggs during the same season, though in the hottest parts of South 

 America, according to Laborde, the caiman of Surinam and Cayenne lays at two or even three 

 different periods of the year ; but as each batch is said to consist of only twenty or twenty -five 

 eggs, it is probable that the whole does not exceed tlie number usually assigned to the common 

 alligator. The female of this latter species, it is said, never loses sight of her nest till the young 

 are hatched, and for months afterward affords them the most unremitting care and protection. 



This species is frequently found up the IMississippi, even beyond the Red River. In general, 

 it buries itself under the mud, at the bottom of the swamps and marshes which it inhabits, as 

 soon as the cold weather fairly sets in, and continues in a lethargic sleep till the return of spring. 

 During the very severe frosts, sensation is so completely suspended that the body of the animal 

 may be cut into slices without dispelling his lethargy; yet it is never actually frozen, and the 

 partial return of a few hours' bright sunshine is at all times sufficient to restore suspended ani- 



