20 LIFE BY THE SEASHORE. 



hope for a tolerable harvest of some kind. There is un- 

 doubtedly great variation in the number, both of indi- 

 viduals and species, obtainable even in places not far distant 

 from one another, and this is especially true in regard to the 

 wreckage flung upon the shore. It not infrequently happens 

 that the set of the current brings treasures to one perhaps 

 small area of a bay, which may elsewhere yield little or 

 nothing even to careful and long- continued search. To 

 those beginning the subject, however, these waifs and strays 

 must rank second to living forms whose habits may be 

 watched from day to day, and for these we must seek the 

 rocks. A famous horticulturist once said that the best 

 advice he could give the amateur was to like what he could 

 grow, if he couldn't grow what he liked. Similarly, the 

 shore naturalist may be advised to interest himself in the 

 animals he finds, if he cannot find those in which he is 

 interested. There are few rocks so barren as to yield 

 nothing to the industrious hunter, and in the general case 

 the statement that a particular area is unproductive, and 

 its pools void of life, is more likely to be based upon in- 

 efficient observation than upon fact. Hopefulness is indeed 

 justified even where the surroundings seem adverse in the 

 extreme. I have found brilliantly coloured specimens of 

 the sea-anemone, Anthea cereus, in company with many 

 Nudibranchs and rare Annelids, on rocks which I was 

 assured on good authority were hopelessly poisoned by 

 drainage from lead mines. In the Firth of Forth colonies 

 of Alcyoniam in perfect health and beauty may be found 

 within a few yards of a shore piled with the accumulated 

 nastiness of our civilisation, and similar examples might be 

 multiplied indefinitely. Nevertheless, as a slight guide to 

 those whose choice of a summer resort is unhampered, a 

 brief list of places famous for their shore animals is given 

 at the end of the chapter. 



While, however, we recognise in this way that there are 

 few patches of rocks which are not worth a hunt, it is well 

 also to consider under what conditions there is likely to be 

 "good hunting." In the first place it is important to realise, 

 what we have already dwelt upon, that few marine animals 

 like the full glare of the sun, and fewer still the danger of 

 drought. Now the tide ebbs and flows twice a day, and 



