1895. PEOCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MVSEVM. 373 



to see what they can pick up, and many of them are taken in by 

 crabby. Taking advantage of such spots in the sand or mud and 

 keeping out of sight, and then roiling up the water, they attract these 

 small tish and secure a good meal. After a crab has reached his 

 extreme growth, 1 do not think he sheds his shell, as I have often found 

 them with a long growth of moss on their backs. As October cb-aws 

 to a close, the blue-claw moves oft" into deep water, and at this season 

 may frequently be seen paddling near the surface as he works down- 

 stream with the tide. They are found all winter in the channels near 

 the mouths of our rivers, where the water is salty. In some places I 

 have seen the ice covered with them, where they had been caught by 

 people spearing eels. At this season they are very torpid. A number 

 of years ago the September storms closed up the entrance of Quick 

 Sands Pond, Rhode Island. Early in November there came a sharp 

 cold spell, and on going down to where the washed-in beach made a 

 dam to the creek, I think I saw more blue-claw crabs in five minutes 

 than I have ever seen since in the whole of my life. The bottom was 

 blue and green with them. For, you see, as the water became cold they 

 moved down pond and tried to get back to the ocean the way they 

 came in in the spring, and here in the shallow water you would see 

 hundreds snapping then- claws out to catch the young menhaden 

 which, like themselves, had become imprisoned by the closing creek. 

 These crabs were nuich more ugly than any I have seen, and if in 

 catching them with a scoop net you broke the shell of one and he 

 tried to get away, he was at once seized on by those nearest and eaten 

 up without the slightest remorse. These crabs were so thick that 

 with a single scoop of a small net I hauled out eleven. A few days 

 after I was at the pond, the weather became much colder and the crabs 

 started out over the beach to the ocean, a distance of about 400 feet. 

 Some bass fishermen then caught over six barrels while the crabs were 

 on their way across. This is the only instance which I ever knew of 

 the blue-claw crab leaving the water and walking across lots on his 

 own hook. 



EXPLANATION OF PLATES. 



Plate XII. 



CaUinectes sajndus, Rathbun, = C'. hastatiis (Say). Male. Much reduced. 



Plate XIII. 



CaUinectes sa2)idus aciitideus, Kathbuu, new subspecies. Male. Reduced about one- 

 fifth. 



Plate XIV. 



CaUinectes sa2}idus, varying toward acutidens. Male. Reduced about one-fifth. 



