The Biology of the Crocodilia 19 
Almost immediately after the occurrence of the rains 
that filled up the swamps eggs were deposited in all 
of the nests at about the same time. From the fact 
that all of these completed nests had stood for so 
long a time without eggs, and from the fact that 
all of the eggs from these nests contained embryos 
in a well-advanced state of development, it seemed 
evident that the egg-laying had been delayed by the 
unusually dry weather. Eggs taken directly from 
the oviducts of an alligator that was killed at this 
time also contained embryos that had already 
passed through the earlier stages of development. 
Thus it was that the earliest stages of development 
were not obtained during this summer. 
It is said that during the mating season, which 
precedes by some time, of course, the laying season, 
the males are noisy and quarrelsome, and that 
they exhibit sexual characteristics of color by 
which they may be distinguished from the females. 
Never having been in the alligator country at this 
season, the writer has made no personal observa- 
tions along these lines, but from the frequency 
with which alligators with mutilated or missing 
members are found it is evident that fierce encoun- 
ters must sometimes take place, whatever the 
cause. During June and July, at least, and prob- 
ably during most of the year, the alligators are 
very silent, an occasional bellow during the very 
early morning hours being the only audible evi- 
dence that one has that the big reptiles are in the 
