THE CROCODILES 277 



necessarily attached limbs, such as legs or paddles. The Snakes 

 proper have no limbs. 



Reptiles, especially in their past history, show considerable 

 relationship to birds, although at the present time, with the in- 

 dications of their relationship, birds and reptiles show strongly- 

 marked differences — for instance, in the feathers and warm blood 

 of the former and the scales and cold blood of the latter. 



CROCODILIA 



THE CROCODILES (Family Crocodilid^) 



The huge creatures which we call Crocodiles are among the 

 largest and fiercest of the reptiles that now exist. Some of them, 

 when fully grown, attain to the surprising length of twenty-five 

 feet ; and they do not hesitate to attack a man, if he should venture 

 too near the water where they lie in hiding. They are not found 

 in this country, nor, indeed, in any other part of Europe. But in 

 many of the rivers and lakes of Asia, Africa, and America they 

 are very common. 



The crocodile has a very odd way of killing its prey. Let us 

 suppose that a deer, for example, has come down to the river-side 

 to drink. The animal does not notice its enemy; for the crocodile, 

 when lying quite still in the water, looks so much like a floating 

 log, that even the sharpest eye would often be deceived. 



But the great reptile, sluggish as it seems, is on the alert; and 

 as soon as it catches sight of the deer, it dives quietly under water, 

 and swims cautiously up to the place where the animal is drinking. 

 If the deer be not on the alert, with a sweep of its mighty tail the 

 crocodile knocks the poor creature into the water, and, seizing it, 

 holds it underneath the surface until it is drowned. 



The jaws of the crocodile are exceedingly strong, so that when 

 once a victim is seized, it has little chance of escape. Each jaw 

 is furnished with a long row of sharply-pointed teeth, which fall 



