THE NAUTILUS. 75 



shore, and caused the tide water of the harbor to scour out the chan- 

 nel and drift large quantities of sand over the shallows. 



By this means new homes are made for wanderers, and old inhab- 

 itants are washed from their moorings and swept by the tide within 

 reach of eager Conchologists. 



It is surprising, however, how seldom the year's abundance of any 

 species repeat themselves. 



At one time Nassa fossata Gld., at another Periploma discus 

 Stearns ; at another Lima orientalis Cpr. ; or Scalatella striata Cpr., 

 are found by the dozen, or score, or hundred in San Pedro Bay or 

 vicinity, and then for years after only a few are found at a time. 



The sea conditions are unsettled. This keeps local collectors 

 alert. 



Within a few months I have found a specimen of Tritonium 

 gibbosiim which is new to California, and one of Cyliclina cylindracea 

 var. attonsa Cpr., Avhich is new to San Pedro. Both shells are beach 

 worn. 



This summer I spent July at San Pedro and added a number of 

 new specimens to my collection besides learning many interesting 

 facts about habits and habitat of molluscs. 



A student only gets a half knowledge who cannot collect speci- 

 mens and study the living animals in their native haunts. 



July seems to be a favorite month for many species to lay their 

 eggs. 



Mltra maura (Idee), fastens her capsules to the underside of stones; 

 the Naticidte place their "sand collars" in the damp sand ; Bulla 

 nehulosa Gld. coils up her yellow strings on the grassy flats, and 

 Haminea virescens Sby. chooses the same place and time, but has a 

 different shade of yellow for her egg- strings. 



I was much interested in the eggs of Adceou (Rictaxis) j^undo- 

 ccelatus Cpr. 



This mollusk has been rare, and I am inclined to think it only 

 comes inshore in numbers during the breeding season and after that 

 burrows in sand in deeper Avater for the rest of the year. In July 

 Ave found them by the hundred. 



The eggs are laid in a Avhite string three or four inches long that 

 coils so as to form a loose spiral. 



The spirals are anchored, by some means, so firmly that the wash- 

 ing of rough surf does not SAveep them aAvay. 



