20 The Alligator and Its Allies 
neighborhood. Whatever may be the sexual differ- 
ences during the mating season, at ordinary times 
the two sexes are so much alike that I have, on 
more than one occasion, seen experienced hunters 
disagree as to the supposed sex of an alligator that 
had just been killed. 
Although I havenever seen a nest actually during 
the process of construction, it is easy to imagine, 
after the examination of a large number of freshly 
made nests, what the process must be like. 
The alligator, probably the female, as the male, 
after the mating season, takes no interest whatever 
in the propagation of his species, selects a slight 
elevation on or near the bank of the ‘‘hole” 
in which she lives. This elevation is generally, 
though not always, a sunny spot, and is frequently 
at the foot of a small tree or clump of bushes. 
Where the alligator is living in a large swamp she 
may have to go a considerable distance to find a 
suitable location for her nest; when her hole is 
scarcely more than a deep, overgrown puddle, as 
is often the case in the less swampy regions, she 
may find a good nesting place within a few feet of 
her cave. That the female alligator stays in the 
neighborhood of her nest after she has filled it 
with eggs seems pretty certain, but that she defends 
it from the attacks of other animals is extremely 
doubtful: certainly man is in very little danger 
when he robs the nest of the alligator, and, accord- 
ing to the statement of reliable hunters, bears are 
