The Biology of the Crocodilia 21 
very persistent searchers for and eaters of alligator 
eggs. Having selected (with how much care it 
is impossible to say) the location for the nest, the 
alligator proceeds to collect, probably biting it 
off with her teeth, a great mass of whatever vegeta- 
tion happens to be most abundant in that imme- 
diate vicinity. This mass of flags or of marsh grass 
is piled into a conical or rounded heap and is 
packed down by the builder repeatedly crawling 
over it. 
There is a great deal of variation in the size and 
form of the different nests, some being two meters 
or more in diameter and nearly a meter in height, 
while others are much smaller in diameter and so 
low as to seem scarcely more than an accidental 
pile of dead vegetation. It is probable that the 
nests are under construction for some time, per- 
haps to give time for the fresh vegetation of which 
they are composed to ferment and soften, and 
also for the material to settle into a more compact 
mass. The compactness of the alligator’s nest 
was well illustrated one day when the writer used 
an apparently deserted nest as a vantage ground 
from which to take a photograph: on opening this 
nest it was found, after all, to contain eggs, and 
though some of the eggs were cracked, none of 
them were badly crushed. This nest although it 
was so low and flat that 1t was thought to be one 
that had been used during some previous season, 
contained forty-eight eggs, a greater number than 
