SHORT-TAILED GROUP 



3225 



a circuit. Having reached the sea, the females lay their eggs, and the young hatch 

 out as miniature copies of their parents. At the time of molting, which takes 

 place late in the summer, the crabs retire to their burrows, close up the apertures, 

 and remain there out of harm's way until the old shell is cast and the new integu- 



SWIFT LAND CRAB. 

 (Natural size.) 



ment hardened. It is while still in the soft state that these crabs, which are eaten 

 by the natives, are considered most palatable. 



The second family (Ocypodidce) is typically represented by the swift land crabs 

 (Ocypoda], which appear to be less strictly terrestrial than the last, although unable 

 to endure a long sojourn in the sea. Indeed, from the adoption of a land life their 

 breathing organs have become so modified that these crabs may be drowned by an 

 immersion of twenty-four hours. They frequent sandy beaches, and when chased 

 run with such speed, as to make their capture a matter of difficulty. They burrow 

 deep perpendicular holes in the sand. In these they stay when the tide is up, but 

 at low water they wander over the beach in search of food, which consists of sand 

 hoppers or any offal cast up by the waves. 



These crabs are gregarious, in the sense that numbers frequent the same spot. 

 Each has a burrow to itself, and if one of them tries to enter by mistake the burrow 

 of another, the rightful occupant makes a loud 

 scraping noise to warn the intruder of its error; 

 whereupon the latter retreats in search of its own 

 abode. So strong is this instinct against trespass- 

 ing, that a crab will always risk the chance of a 

 fresh run for safety, rather than persevere in seek- 

 ing concealment in the home of another. 



Nearly allied to the foregoing are the calling 

 crabs (Gelasimus} , represented by a number of 

 species from the warmer parts of the world. The 

 carapace is broad and squared in front, and the long slender eyestalks lie when at 

 rest along its front border, sunk in the orbits. But the most remarkable character- 



CRAB (natural size). 



