GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS 7 



ready to grasp and paralyse any small living being that may wander 

 within their reach. Here, under a projecting ledge of the rock, 

 partly hidden by pale green threads, are the glaring eyes of the 

 voracious bullhead, eager to pounce on almost any moving object ; 

 while above it the five -fingered starfish slowly climbs among the 

 dangling weeds by means of its innumerable suckers. In yonder 

 shady corner, where the overhanging rock cuts off all direct rays of 

 the sun from the deeper water of the pool, are the pink and yellow 

 incrustations of little sponges, some of the latter colour resembling a 

 group of miniature inverted volcanic cones, while on the sandy floor 

 of the pool itself may be seen the transparent phantom-like prawn, 

 with its rapidly moving spinnerets and gently-waving antennae, 



Fro. 5. A CLUSTER OF MUSSELS 



suddenly darting backward when disturbed by the incautious 

 approach of the observer ; and the spotted sand-crab, entirely buried 

 with the exception of its upper surface, and so closely imitating its 

 surroundings as to be quite invisible except on the closest inspection. 

 Finally, the scene is greatly enlivened by the active movements of 

 the hermit-crab, that appropriates to its own use the shell which 

 once covered the body of a mollusc, and by the erratic excursions of 

 its cousin crabs as they climb over the weedy banks of the pool in 

 search of food. 



Thus we may find much to admire and study on the sea shore 

 at all times, but there are attractions of quite another nature that 

 call for notice on a stormy day, especially on the wilder and more 



