NOTES ON ANIMAL LIFE. 



BY THOMAS T. BOUVE. 



There was in the minds of many people o'f the town a desire 

 that not only its geology and botany should be presented in the 

 proposed history, but that an account of its animal life should be 

 given. The full accomplishment of such an undertaking would 

 have required the labor of a large corps of naturalists many years, 

 and the expense would have been enormous. To do this was 

 therefore impracticable. 



Inasmuch, however, as considerable changes have been going on 

 in the fauna of the territory within the present century, and more 

 may be expected in the future, the writer, to meet the probable 

 wishes of the living as well as those of future generations who 

 may seek to know what forms of life have been and passed away, 

 has thought it desirable to mention a few that were contemporary 

 with the inhabitants of the town in a past period and are not now 

 to be found, or which were common and are now seldom seen. 

 The rare visits of some species never resident here will also be 

 alluded to. 



So far as relates to marine life a few general remarks mav not 

 be superfluous before referring to any species that live or have 

 lived in the waters of the harbor. 



The encircling arm of Hull as it stretches itself far out in the 

 ocean from the main land, shelters the harbor of the town from 

 the heavy seas that often prevail outside that barrier, and thus 

 exerts a considerable influence upon its fauna and flora, inasmuch 

 as many forms of life, both animal and vegetable, which naturally 

 exist in the sands and upon the exposed rocks of the open sea, 

 find no home in the more placid waters within. While this influ- 

 ence is generally of a character to lessen the number of species 

 of invertebrate animals and of marine plants found on the shores 

 of the town, it may also be said that some few are protected that 

 would perish if exposed to the full action of the storms that strike 

 the outer coast. The results are that very few of the mollusks 

 which strew the beach at Nantasket after a storm have ever been 

 found within the limits of the harbor of Hingham. On the other 



