180 WALKING FOEESTS. 



its fellows by several series of pale bands, forming 

 concentric arcs sub-parallel to each of the four mar- 

 gins of the body. Mr. Yarrell speaks of this as very 

 rare, but I obtained three examples in one day. The 

 Bordered Ray [R. marginatd) is another rarity which 

 I have taken here, distinguished by the wide band of 

 dark brown that margins the disk. The Angel [Sqiia- 

 tina angelus) also sometimes comes up in the drag, a 

 species intermediate between the Eays and the Sharks ; 

 but he is too hideous to dwell upon. 



Some lovely little Nudibranch Mollusca frequently 

 are found clinging to the meshes of the net ; especially 

 one of extraordinary beauty, when examined with a 

 lens, though to the careless eye it appears dull and 

 insignificant. I refer to ^girus ])unctUucenSy a little 

 slug of pale reddish-brown hue, covered with tubercles, 

 but studded here and there with black spots, in the 

 centre of which is a speck of most lustrous green or 

 blue, looking exactly as if a minute sapphire or eme- 

 rald had been set there. 



But perhaps most characteristic of this particular 

 beat are the Crustacea. Various sorts of (^rabs that 

 occur in deeper water are also found here, as the 

 Long-legged Spider-crabs [Stenorhynclius and Ina- 

 cliiis) ; and the more sluggish sorts, as Pisa, Hyas, 

 and Maia, whose rough shells are frequently so 

 covered with a forest of growing sea-weeds, that, as 

 they crawl and stagger along, they remind one of 

 Birnam wood coming to Dunsinane. The true 

 Shrimps {Crangon), or Sand-raisers, as they are not 

 inappropriately called by the fishermen, are, however, 

 peculiar to the shallow sands. Of this genus we have 



