158 BULLETIN OF WISCONSIN NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY. VOL. 1. NO. 3. 
deep spring of a quarter of an acre in extent, with outlet into 
Indian Creek, through which frequent visits were made by the 
reptiles. They would occasionally come in, niake a circuit of the 
pool, and invariably halt opposite my point of observation, al- 
though I was exceedingly careful not to move, they would at 
once fasten their eyes on me, remaining in the same position for 
an hour at a time, only occasionally winking and w^orking the 
valves of their ears and nose. One visitor was an old female with 
tw^o young, each probably i6 inches long. As she passed, the old 
fellow opposite me made a quic k lunge at one of the little fel- 
lows; instantly the female was upon him and a terrible struggle 
followed, resulting in his being driven out of the pool. The 
mother then swam around and around, apparently hunting for 
her young, seemingly in great distress, and plainly indicating 
considerable natural affection for her offspring. 
Not being able to induce any one of my visitors to present 
enough of his head above the water to offer a fair rifle shot, a 
wounded pelican was obtained and hung from an overhanging 
limb, within two feet of the water, but Mr. Crocodile could not 
be induced to touch it. The bird was then allowed to swim 
around the pool, and although five crocodiles were in sight, none 
seemed to have a taste for fowl. One, however, made a light- 
ning-like dash, catching a fish of the drum variety, weighing 
about three pounds. 
The second day's watch resulted in my getting a successful 
shot at one, and later we obtained several specimens, one of 
which w^as a, badly scarred and tailless veteran, twelve feet in 
length. We occasionally located one in the bottom of a stream 
and found it possible to row our boats over it, without its mov- 
ing, provided we did not look down, but the moment our eyes 
were turned toward the reptile, it would dart away with light- 
ning-like speed. 
Three were captured by means of ''graining," that is, striking 
them with a two-tined spear in the back of the neck. When one 
was struck it would dash up or down the stream a short distance, 
towing our boat after it, then stop and roil the water ; we would then 
row our boat over the place and carefully place a wire noose over 
its nose, when it would at once feign death and allow us to take 
it into our boat with impunity. Contrary to the common idea, 
we found that they did not use their tails for striking, but inva- 
riably struck a side blow with their long and bony heads. When 
attacked it would hiss like a serpent and emit a strong odor of 
musk from glands located in the lower part of its jaw. They 
