CHAPTER XI 
TOPS AND TURBANS 
We now come to a great group of shells quite 
unlike any that we have previously considered. 
Most of them are lined with iridescent pearl, and 
many of the forms are remarkably beautiful. The 
shells take the form of turbans or tops, and each 
one has a special front door, which he closes when 
he desires to be alone. The apertures of all are 
nearly circular in shape, and they are all to be 
elassed with the vegetarians. We begin with the 
few that have shelly opereula, and the first one has 
a very small but very pretty shell. 
Phasianélla compta, Gld., the Pheas- 
& ant-shell, Figure 260, may sometimes be 
found alive on sea-grass, though dead 
Fig. 260,x2 shells are more common. When alive, 
the dull epidermis obscures the beauty of the shell, 
which is richly painted with little zigzag stripes 
of red, brown, and white. There is a little white, 
solid operculum, almost hemispherical in shape, 
the convex side being outward. The length of the 
whole shell is from 3 to 6 millimeters. 
