JOHNNY DARTERS. 33 



in creation except owls, — and a touch of a finger 

 on its tail showed that it had lost none of its activ- 

 ity. It was quite improbable that it had been 

 buried so completely by accident. We therefore 

 cleared of stones a small spot, leaving the hard 

 white sand exposed, and awaited developments. 

 Then for days we watched it closely, only to learn 

 that it could bury itself with great celerity, for it 

 was not caught in the act. But our patience was 

 at last rewarded ; for one morning, as we came out 

 to breakfast, it put its nose, that we now know has 

 a tip nearly as hard as horn, against the bottom, 

 stood up nearly straight on its head, and with a 

 swift beating of the tail to right and left was in less 

 than five seconds completely buried. The sand 

 had been violently stirred, of course ; and just as 

 it had nearly settled, probably in less than half a 

 minute, its nose was put quietly out, and settling 

 back left the twinkling eyes and narrow forehead 

 alone visible. 



Since then we have kept scores of them in an 

 aquarium arranged especially for their conven- 

 ience, and have often seen them burrow into the 

 sand. They will remain buried so long as the water 

 is pure and cool. Indeed, we now rely almost en- 

 tirely on them to warn us when the water needs 

 changing. When this need is felt, they come out 

 of the sand and lie on the bottom panting vio- 

 lently. We have been unable to discover any im- 

 mediate incentive for the act. It seems to be 

 entirely unpremeditated. A number of them in 

 confinement lie helplessly on the bottom, motion- 

 less and slowly breathing, when one suddenly 



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