106 THE VICTORIAN NATURALIST. 



moved several feet by tlie waves. In the hard stone one 

 frequently notices small holes, sometimes very numerous, and 

 almost honeycombing the rock in places. They were apparently 

 filled with a much looser material than the surrounding rock, 

 which was easily washed out by the action of the sea. They 

 seem to be the former burrows of the Sand-hoppers, Talorchestia 

 j)ravidactyla, which are exceedingly abundant in the sand on the 

 sea coast in the present day, and no doubt they were equally 

 plentiful in the ages gone by when this sandstone was forming. 

 In the cliffs, where the sand is much more consolidated than it is 

 in the sand hummocks above, the holes of these little crustaceans 

 will be seen. Many of them will be found empty, but some are 

 inhabited, while others contain only the dried skins of the furmer 

 occupants ; these are generally in the extreme end of the burrow. 

 As a rule the holes are made in colonies, often several hundred 

 yards from the sea, and, being in consolidated sand, gradually get 

 filled by loose wind-blown dry sand ; thus many would probably 

 have only their entrances blocked, and when the sand is hardened 

 into rock the contents of the burrows would be easily washed 

 out by the sea, as they appear to be in the stone at the water 

 level. 



The cliffs facing the sea are often very interesting, as below at 

 the sea level is the hard sandstone, a little higher up is consoli- 

 dated sand and half-formed dune rock, often mixed with bands 

 and deposits of limestone, and on the top the ordinary dunes of 

 sand, which are generally covered with dense vegetation. When 

 this growth gets destroyed by fire or other means, the wind blows 

 the unprotected sand into hummocks or dunes of varying sizes, 

 often making deep gaps in the more consolidated sand by so 

 doing, and frequently exposing the dead roots of former vegeta- 

 tion, which have become encrusted with lime and sand. Some 

 of these incrustations are of fair size, while others are very fine 

 and delicate in structure, and when broken they, along with the 

 shells and pebbles, find their way to the bottom of the hollows 

 formed, and, being heavier than the sand, do not so easily get 

 blown away. Many of these incrustations are hollow, through 

 the roots having rotted away, but others have the roots still in 

 them. A recent paper [Victorian Naturalist, xvii., p. 47) by Mr. 

 T. S. Hall, M.A., gave some account of the formation of these 

 incrustations. 



In some places broken limpet and other shells are very plenti- 

 ful, and all except the limpets more or less broken, giving one 

 the idea that in days gone by the natives used these places to 

 break and eat the shell-fish. This is more probable from the 

 fact that stones are frequently found with them, that seemed to 

 have been used for the purpose of breaking them. 



The shifting sand hummocks are often of a considerable size, 



