her animals; but their being particularly fond of them is a
point about which naturalists differ. It is true they will approach the
spot where they hear the yelping of a dog; but some say that this is
because it so much resembles the whining of their own young, and that it
is these they are in search of."

"But I have seen both the males and females make towards the dog."

"Just so. The males went to devour the young, as they thought, and the
females followed to protect them. Great battles are often fought
between the males and females on this account."

"But how is it, Luce," inquired Francois, "how is it they can catch fish
that appear so much swifter than themselves?"

"Very few kinds of fish are swifter. The alligator, by means of his
webbed feet, and particularly his flat tail--which acts on the principle
of a stern-oar to a boat, and a rudder as well--can pass through the
water as swiftly as most of the finny tribe. It is not by hunting it
down, however, but by stratagem, that the alligator secures a fish for
his maw."

"By what stratagem?"

"You have often noticed them floating on the surface of the water, bent
into a sort of semicircular shape, and without moving either body or
limb?"

"Yes--yes; I have noticed it many a time."

"Well, if you could have looked under the water then, you would have
seen a fish somewhere upon the convex side of the semicircle. The fish
would be at rest--no doubt, watching the surface for his own prey: such
flies or beetles as might come along. Thus occupied, he does not heed
the great dusky mass that is gliding slowly towards him, and which
presents no threatening appearance--for the head of the alligator is at
this time turned away from his intended victim. Although apparently
asleep, the alligator knows what he is about well enough. He floats
silently on, until he has got the fish within sweep of his great tail,
that is all the while bent like a bow; and then, taking sure aim, he
strikes the unconscious prey a `slap' that kills it at once--sometimes
throwing it directly into his jaws, and sometimes flinging it several
feet out of the water!

"When on land the alligator strikes his prey in a similar manner. As he
gives the blow, his head turns so as to meet the tail half-way--the
whole body thus forming a semicircle. Should the prey not be killed by
the blow of the tail, it is flung right into the jaws of the monster,
where it is sure to be despatched in a tr