106 



SEA-SHORE LIFE 



appropriate. As one approaches they clash off with great rapidity 

 and will often rush into the water, although the gray snappers are 



Fig- 75; Burrows of Fiddler Crabs. In the center of the tut a male crab may 

 be seen emerging from its burrow. Streets of Key West, Florida. 



swimming close along the shore in order to devour them. The 

 crab rarely enters the sea excepting during the bseeding season, 

 in the spring of the year. 



Mr. Beebe of the New York Zoological Park discovered that this 

 crab is very destructive to the eggs of sea birds on Cobb Island. 



FIDDLER CRABS. 



Fiddler Crabs, (XJca, Figs. 74, 75 J. These crabs live in immense 

 numbers on muddy banks above high tide, and literally riddle the 

 ground with burrows into which they rush for shelter at the least 

 alarm. In the male one claw is very large while the other is small, 

 but in the female both claws are small and of equal size. 



The eyes are mounted upon long, movable eye-stalks. These 

 crabs feed upon plants, the male using his small claw, and the fe- 



