60 THE NAUTILUS. 



species along this strip of beach after next winter's storms. 

 It seems as though a large colony has been whipped out for 

 a distance of several miles. At Long Beach (the next beach 

 eastward) there were a dozen or two S. solidissima per linear 

 rod. 



We tramped over the top of this gigantic funeral pile for a 

 distance of half a mile, starting near the hospital. As a re- 

 sult we picked up 16 specimens of Pecten magellanicus (with 

 the animal) besides a few odd valves. Beyond the half mile 

 the species was not found. The most astonishing find of the 

 day, however, was a large specimen of Buccinum undatum 

 fairly well covered with Hydractinia echinata and occupied 

 by a putrid hermit. This species is of accidental occurrence 

 west of the eastern end of the island. It is not an inhabitant 

 of our sandy beaches. 



On the channel side of Long Beach where dredges are 

 widening the channel and building up land we found some 

 hundred-odd specimens of Ensis directus freshly cast up. 

 The largest had a width of 1 Vie inches and a length of 

 over 7 inches. A very few were found which were perfectly 

 straight-looking from the outside like a true Solen, but when 

 they were cleaned out and the hinge examined they were 

 found to be Ensis. As I have never found the slightest indi- 

 cation of a Solen in this vicinity, nor as I do not know of a 

 single authentic record of one for our coast, I am forced to 

 the conclusion that the lots in the American Museum collec- 

 tion (as well as those in other museums) labeled New York 

 and forming parts of the collections of shell fanciers have (as 

 is the case with many other species) the wrong locality at- 

 tached to them through carelessness or ignorance. This error 

 seems to have been a common one for this species and it is 

 time it be definitely rectified. This mistake of locality in 

 collections of collectors of shells as a hobby (as the Jay, 

 Haines, Newcomb, etc., collections) is common, so that their 

 collections should not be considered for distributional records 

 of species. 



