﻿NOTES ON A NESTING PLACE OF CROCODILUS PALUSTR1S 



LESSON 



By W. Schultze 



(From the Entomological Section, Biological Laboratory, Bureau of Science, 



Manila, P. I.) 



One plate 



During the biological expedition of the Bureau of Science 

 and the University of the Philippines to Taytay, Palawan, April 

 7 to June 7, 1913, opportunity was taken to explore two lakes 

 near Taytay, the larger one being called by the natives from the 

 village of Bantolan "Manguao," the smaller one "Nagsirocan." 

 According to the statements of old natives, neither had been 

 visited before by white men. Lake Manguao is located approx- 

 imately 8 kilometers south of the town of Taytay. Mr. E. D. 

 Merrill and several natives relocated an old direct trail from 

 Taytay to Lake Manguao during the latter part of April, 1913. 

 A second trip to the lake was made on May 11, by a party con- 

 sisting of A. L. Day, R. A. Rowley, Mrs. Schultze, myself, and 

 several assistants and guides, and we camped there until May 

 16. Our camp was located on the southwestern shore. On 

 May 14, while going close to the shore on a raft, Mr. Day 1 

 discovered a peculiar heap or mound of grass on the beach in 

 one of the little bays of the lake. Upon coming back to camp, 

 our guides, natives of the town of Bantolan, were asked as to 

 the nature of the peculiar mound. They stated that it might be 

 the nest of a crocodile. Whereupon the next morning Mr. 

 Rowley, his assistant, Mrs. Schultze, and I went on a bamboo 

 raft to investigate the place. The mound was made of a very 

 coarse, wiry, thick-stemed grass (Ischaemum sp.) which had 

 been torn out by the roots, scratched together, and piled up. 

 A space about 8 meters long and 5 meters wide, on the sandy 

 beach, had been cleared absolutely of the grass. The mound 



1 He states : 



Lake Manguao is indicated on various charts, but because of the fact that 

 very little surveying has been done in northern Palawan the lake has hereto- 

 fore been incorrectly located. On May 14, I went on a bamboo raft south- 

 east from our camp. On the southeast side of the second point I observed a 

 mound of grass, the nature of which was not clear. 



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