
FOREST AND STREAM. 


ROUGH-EYED CAIMAN. 
found before the first date given by Clarke. It 
seemed quite certain that the laying, during the 
season in question, had been delayed by an ex- 
treme drought that had dried up the smaller 
swamps and reduced the alligator holes to mere 
puddles. 
“Nests were found in considerable numbers 
as early as June 8, but no eggs were laid in any 
of them until the end of the dry period, which 
occurred nearly two weeks later. Almost im- 
mediately after the occurrence of the rains that 
filled up the swamps, eggs were deposited in all 
oi 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 con- 
tained embryos in a well advanced state of de- 
velopment, it seemed evident that the egg-lay- 
ing had been delayed by the unusually dry 
weather. Eggs taken direct from the oviducts 
of the 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 earlier stages of develop- 
ment were not obtained during this summer.” 
On Aug. 12, 1900, the writer discovered an 
alligator’s nest close to a causeway (an ancient 
rice ditch) in Hampton county, South Carolina. 
It consisted of a mount of decomposing vege- 
table matter about five feet in diameter and 
three feet high, half hidden among some’ bushes 
at the border of a pool. At.one side of the 
nest, inward toward its center fully two feet, 
protruded two thick basal stems of a large bush, 
these fully an inch and a half in diameter, but 
about them the material composing the mound 
was as carefully matted down as on the clear 
portions. 
The eggs were discovered about two and one- 
half feet down in the center of the mound, in 
a single, irregular mass. They looked strangely 
white .and immaculate as compared with our 
hands and clothing after breaking our way 
through the swamp. There were thirty-seven 
eggs, averaging two and one-half inches long, 
and an inch in diameter. Their shells were 
hard and brittle, considerably thicker than the 
shell of a hen’s egg, and when struck together 
produced a metalic sound. The entire nest and 
its contents were packed on our horses, brought 
to the nearest rajlway station, and shipped to 
the Zoological Park. During all our work 
there was no hint as to the whereabouts of the 
parent alligator, though from the appearance of 
the much matted grass at the edge of the pool 
it would seem she frequently visited the vicinity 
of the nest. The pool itself was barely eight 
feet in diameter.and was well sounded, but the 
result convinced us that the female alligator 
was not hiding at the bottom. Nearby was a 
series of bayous connecting with the Savannah 
River low-grounds. It was from the eggs in 
al 
reNRe CR ROR eh 
ALLIGATORS IN THEIR SUMMER POOL, 
this.nest that we hatched the specimens which 
prompted the writer to prepare the present 
article. : ; 
The eggs began hatching on the 14th of 
October. But five alligators emerged, the re- 
mainder of the eggs having evidently been 
spoiled in the sevete shaking received in transit. 
From the time of their arrival in New York 
to the period of hatching—the five hatching 
within a week’s time—the eggs were buried in 
the medium composing the original nest, which 
was kept well moistened. The process of in- 
cubation was carried on in one of the Reptile 
House cages, at a temperature averaging 8o de- 
grees Fahrenheit. 
Upon hatching, the little alligators were very 
stout of body, the head being decidedly convex at 
the top. They averaged eight inches in length, 
and showed a weight of one and three-quarters of 
an ounce.each. As they were’ very well 
nourished by the egg yolk at the time of hatch- 
ing, they refused food for some days. They 
were decidedly active, swimming or crawling 
about a shallow tank of warm water. When 
disturbed -they “barked” vigorously, and made 
efforts to snap at the observer’s fingers. 
At the present time, these alligators are over 
five feet long. The following table shows their 
increase in weight: 
Hatched. Lbs. Oz 
GV Ste ered GO Ors aes eye erste etelanetele crevers c/ctkpaccrsidtatplpiecs cle dteteiaiste 134 
VCE CS uy GU Lame atere euravetatets ix: 5 Erato BIA hia) a shales s orp) s Assis ete) See 914, 
August, 1902 5 
March, 1995 

October, 1906 : 
By comparing ‘his notes on three series of 
alligators, the writer is enabled,to prepare the 
following table, showing the rate of growth of 
the alligator as he has observed it: 



tain. Lbs. Oz 
DAtabitries Of HAUCHING nees.ces nels esse eercee 8 : 1% 
PP OTC MVEAT 8s. Loree ciatdainaach wemaleh Malm aiacs 1 iG 
PUG EU EAL Ss 1 ie iicans ax tae ahs Sr asics a 2 
AL PUTER VESTS esmaveracceahenet nares ae | 
A ROUMMYV EATS cleotide wcles tcisce re erazelaierets 4 0 
At five years 4 10 
At six years .. Bd 50 0 
At seven years ..........$(maturity) 6 2 
SMESOIO EMV COGS? ere clases eitiacivte dis tiereals 6 il 
LA Gs Tht eHeY GAT Oercialae oc nketehieahiiacournee ere Sieg 
CHD UEATS | acces anwar wevin'tec tetne a's CP ae 
At eleven) yeaTS 0) ar euerresecesiavracs 10 11 
At rwrelye) Years. ss. cycled sales eae. ede 13 
IAS SENIFEOOR SV EUTS doncssewahs baniaete f nh ess 
IAG TOUDteerin Vears: cnmtec uses opie aiejesie 11-8 
IRE FAPCOTI Cars, Valacuaaene intete tele sts 12 0 650 est. 
It appears that after an alligator attains the 
patriarchal size of eleven feet, its growth is 
much slower. However, with an example liv- 
ing under favorable conditions, there is a steady 
increase, the limit of growth appearing to be 
about fourteen feet. “Old Mose,” a fine speci- 
men, was twelve feet long when received at the 
Reptile House in 1899. In July, 1903, he had in- 
creased in length to twelve feet five inches. 
In 1906 he showed a length of 12 feet 7 inches. 
A curious example has been under the writer’s 
observation for over fifteen years. This speci- 
men was, years ago, kept in a small tank in the 
writer’s study. The accommodations were not 
suitable for its development, and though it fed 
well, for a period of five years it did not seem 
to increase in size as much as one inch. 
Previous to that period it had been kept for 
three years by a friend of the writer, who ex- 
plained that it was about sixteen inches long 
at the time he received it, and that was about 
its: size when it was deposited in the Reptile 
House, seven vears ag 
_For about a year it showed no increase in 
size, despite its favorable quarters—a large tank 
of tepid water. At the expiration of its first 
year in the park it was attacked by a young 
crocodile and badly lacerated. Its abdomen 
was torn open nearly the entire length, through 
(8) 

which aperture the intestines protruded; an- 
other big tear on the side disclosed the heart 
and lungs. As this specimen had been in the 
writer's possession for so long a time, he en- 
deavored, with but little hope of success, to 
save its life. The intestines were carefully re- 
placed, and the abdominal laceration sewed up. 
When the tear on the side had been similarly 
treated, the creature was placed in a shallow 
tank of tepid water from which it could not 
escape. The treatment was as nearly antiseptic 
as conditions would permit. f 
_The lacerations rapidly healed, with attendant 
vigorous sloughing. Within ten days the reptile 
was feeding in normal f More remark- 



fashion. 
able than the reptile’s reconstructive energy in 
healing its great wounds, was the effect ‘upon 
its subsequent development. At once it began 
to grow, and at this date it is nearly six feet 
long, and weighs over fifty pounds. — 

Woodpeckers Catching Insects. 
New York, July 16—Editor Forest and 
Stream: In the issue of Forest AND STREAM 
for July 13 Mr. Edward A. Samuels inquires 
“1f anyone has ever observed one of the true 
woodpeckers to,-on the wing, seize a flying in- 
sect ?” Les 
Last month, while I was at Pierce Pond, Me., 
a hairy woodpecker, feeding up a tree trunk 
fifteen feet distant from our camp, darted a yard 
or more after a flying insect and caught it. The 
occurrence was so unusual I called the atten- 
tion of a couple of friends to it, and as we 
watched the bird the act was repeated twice. 
orf , + 4 
C. A. G.” writes of hearing the song of 
numerous. wood thrushes. at Morehouseville and 
wonders at the prevalence of this bird back in 
the Adirondacks. Was it not rather the sub- 
dued notes of the hermit thrush in the nesting 
period that he heard? 
JosePH W. Droocan, 

