ii8 REPORT OF NEW JERSEY STATE MUSEUM. 



fish themi twice a day or at low water. They drive out tO' the 

 bowls in their wagons and load the crabs and fish directly. The 

 crabs are then hauled to the beach, where, opposite each pound 

 and up on the high dry bank, a large pen is erected. This is fre- 

 quently of various construction, and while usually made of wire 

 like that in the pounds is frequently built up of boards or rails, etc. 

 The size of the pen is usually in accordance with the expected 

 catch, and as this is estimated fairly well, it varies. The 

 largest pen, which was really divided, contained altogether about 

 300,000 crabs. Others of all sizes ranging down to as low as 

 25,000 were noted. Some pens when not large enough are fre- 

 quently added to. We saw several which were filled to overflow- 

 ing and had bursted, leaving great masses of the animals all 

 about their sides. They are frequently emptied and then filled 

 again. By the method in vogue in fishing the pound, and con- 

 tinually adding crabs, there are always a number of live individ- 

 uals in the pens. They, of course, are those forming the surface 

 layer. The crabs live about two or three days, and as the pens 

 are high and dry here and there those which had attempted to 

 escape were always found dead or dying in the hot dry sand. 

 They always appear to be more restless in the pens at the flood 

 tide, when they produce much more commotion than at other 

 times. The king crab appears to be able tO' determine the time of 

 high-tide even when far removed from the water, as they are then 

 ver}^ restless. So far as I could determine the sexes appear equally 

 abundant. The pens when full of crabs always produce a stench, 

 though this is not so foul unless at close quarters or in the wind. 

 The decomposition of animal matter thus going on conduces to 

 myriads of maggots and insects swarming about. These are fre- 

 quently and greedily devoured by most common birds, such as red 

 winged blackbirds, grackles, flickers, crows, etc. It is also said 

 that the birds feed their young with them, and that their nests 

 have a correspondingly unsavory odor. Many birds were seen flit- 

 ting about the pens and feeding. As the owners of the pens and 

 pounds count the individuals of their catch as they store it up, 

 they have a fairly accurate knowledge of the respective contents 

 of the pens. At the end of the season the crabs are removed and 

 loaded in boats, and then shipped up the river to the fertilizing 



