64 NEST OF WHELK. 



about a quarter of an inch in breadth, flat on the inside, 

 and convex on the outside, adhering together in regular 

 order by their expanded margins : the whole forming 

 a body which looks like a wasp's nest. In March or 

 April, each of these little membranous sacs, which a 

 month or two later is found empty and pierced with a 

 hole, contains a soft yolk, in which is gradually formed 

 a young univalve mollusc, whose shell begins to take its 

 proper shape before he emerges from the membranous 

 egg. These froth-like masses 

 are indeed the eggs of the 

 large Whelk (Buccinum un- 

 datum), which inhabits deep- 

 er water, beyond the recess 

 of the tide, where it attaches 



and stones, from which they 

 often become loosened and 

 are cast up in rough weather, 

 as are also the Whelks them- 

 selves, whose dead shells we 

 frequently meet with on 

 shore. Somewhat similar 

 eggs are produced by other 



allied species, the forms and localities differing in each. 

 The eggs of a common species, with a coarse, white shell, 

 sometimes banded with brown and yellow (Purpura la- 

 pillus), are frequently seen attached to small stones, on 

 the sides of rocky hollows. These are little oblong 

 urns, each raised on a short stalk, fixed to a circular 

 expanded base, and pierced by a hole. They generally 



