More Friends in Armor 245 



burrows, It finds every crab safely underground, 7 

 completely out of sight. More : it finds the ovens 

 demolished and the entrance to the shafts plugged up 

 with sand. In truth, our fellow knows well the time of 

 high water, it seems, for it anticipates its arrival by 

 having sealed its shaft within a half hour of the moment 

 it is submerged. For the purpose of stopping up the 

 hole, the crab uses the material of the archway and 

 scrapes up what is necessary from around the door. 

 This it gathers up in great pellets and packs solidly at y 

 the mouth, forming a plug an inch or more deep. The 

 advantage in thus stopping up the shaft is obvious. It 

 saves the inmate an enormous amount of labor. Were 

 this not done and the holes left open, the action of the 

 water would fill them with silt or cause the sides to 

 crumble in, and by thus burying the occupant cause it 

 no small inconvenience and hardship by obliging it to 

 construct its entire burrow anew after every inundation. 

 Even as it is, the crab Is put to considerable effart 

 when the tide lowers. For the seepage of the water 

 loosens the wall which in the first place Is none too well t 

 consolidated, and some sand Invariably falls away from V 

 the sides. To reopen the passage, it first pushes up the 

 sand that plugs the entrance. This loosened material 

 forms a mound at the top, and the crab works Its way 

 out at the base, which results In giving to the little 

 tumulus its ovenlike character. After which the animal 

 returns to the burrow and scoops up a load of sand, 

 compacting it into a pellet of about the size of a cherry, 

 and proceeds to carry it out and deposit it a few Inches 

 from the mouth. This performance is repeated several 

 tlmxCS until the tunnel is thoroughly cleared, the crab In 



