BIRDS OF ESSEX COUNTY. 



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former, off the beaches. This species is found below low-water mark in great 

 numbers and of large size. They are frequently left on the beach by the 

 retreating tide where they burrow in the sand, generally leaving a slight promi- 

 nence to show their whereabouts, and often a fissure, where their crafty eyes 

 may be seen. Their efforts at concealment are often in vain, for the Herring 

 Gull routs them out, and feasts on the dainty morsels. Beach fleas {Orchestia 

 agilis and Talorchestia longicomis) abound, the latter high up on the beach, the 

 former between tides. They devour any organic matter that is cast up on 

 the beach, and are in turn devoured by the birds, especially the shore birds, 

 which grow fat on them. The scud {Gammarus locnsta) is another amphipod of 

 similar functions, swarming in the decaying seaweed. The horseshoe crab 

 (Liinu/its polyphemus), a strange archaic beast, is abundant in the tidal estu- 

 aries, but is not uncommonly thrown up on the outside beaches. Here it 

 makes an extraordinary track as it advances, but frequently attempts to wait in 

 safety for the next tide by burrowing in the sand. 



Of molluscs, large round snails {Polinices heros and P. duplicata) are 

 especially abundant, and the strange collar-like sand rings containing their eggs 

 are common. When the animal is advancing over the sand with its foot 

 stretched to the full capacity, one wonders how it will ever force itself into the 

 shell again. This, however, is quickly done, with a great outpouring of water. 

 The Gulls and Crows are particularly fond of these snails. The European peri- 

 winkle {Litorina littored) is found everywhere now, and may be called the 

 English Sparrow among molluscs. Then there are also the more delicate 

 native periwinkles (L. rudis and L. palliate?), Nassa trivitata, whose pretty 

 and delicate shells often line the beaches, and whelks {Buccinum undatum). 

 The edible mussel (Mytilus edulis) of Europe abounds in great beds off the 

 beaches and in the estuaries, and is much appreciated by the Ducks and Gulls, 

 but not yet by the native American. The deep-water mussel {Modiolus 

 modiolus) is thrown up with attached Lamiuaria. The quohog, our northern 

 little-neck clam (Cyclas islandicd), and the giant clam {Spisula solidissima) 

 inhabit the sand beaches at and below low-water mark, and are often thrown 

 up high on the beach. The razor-fish {Ens is di rectus) is thrown up scantily on 

 the beaches but abounds in the tidal estuaries. The squid (Ommastrephes 

 illecebrosus) are sometimes cast up in great numbers on the beaches, or found 

 close to the shore whither they have been chased by fish. The clam {Mya 

 arenarid), such an important article of food for man and of bait for fishes in 

 Essex County, occurs in the protected sand- and mudflats away from the open 

 sea. 



Then there are numerous bony fishes and sharks whose dead bodies are 

 always to be found on the beaches. At times these occur in thousands, the cod 



