386 



at $atttral ^ 



sects ; and the flesh is accounted excellent. 

 The head, back, and sides are clouded and 

 spotted with brown on a yellowish white 

 ground ; the fins spotted with dark brown ; 

 and the belly and under surface white. 



LOBIVANELLUS. A genus of Birds 

 allied to the Lapwings, of which we may 

 particularize the LOBIVAXELLUS LOBATUS, 

 or WATTLED PJSWIT. This is an attractive 

 and showy bird, of the Plover kind, common 

 in most parts of New South Wales, and when 

 unmolested approaching sufficiently close to 

 the dwellings of the settlers to permit its 

 habits, &c. to be minutely observed. In some 

 districts, however, it has been much per- 

 secuted, and has become so shy and distrust- 

 ful as to obtain the name of the Alarm Bird, 

 from its rising high in the air and screaming 

 at the approach of every intruder. It is 

 distinguished by a beautiful primrose-co- 

 loured wattle, with which the colouring of 

 the bill and the bold eye closely assimilate ; 

 the head, back of the neck, and sides of the 

 chest, are black ; back, wing-coverts, and 

 scapularies, dark grayish-brown ; primaries 

 black ; tail white, crossed near the extremity 

 by a broad band of black ; tarsi purplish red ; 

 scales black ; spur yellow. The colours of 

 the plumage are strongly contrasted ; and, 

 taken altogether, it is one of the most beau- 

 tiful of the Plovers yet discovered. " While 

 on the wing," Mr. Gould observes, " it has 

 much of the carriage of the common Eu- 

 ropean Pewit ( Vanettus cristatus\ but a de- 

 cided difference is observable in its mode of 

 running, and in its more bold and attractive 

 manners." 



LOBSTER. (Hamarus vulgaris). A crus- 

 taceous animal, belonging to the sub-order 

 MACROURA, or long-tailed Decapods (but 

 constituting a species of Cancer, or crab, in 

 the Linnaean system). Lobsters are found 

 in great plenty about many of the European 

 shores ; their general habitation being in 

 fiie clearest waters, about the foot of such 

 rocks as impend over the sea. The colour 

 of this animal alive is a fine bluish black, 

 beautifully variegated with paler spots and 

 clouds : it has a smooth thorax ; a short 

 serrated snout ; very long antennae, and 

 between them two shorter bifid ones. The 

 claws and fangs are large, the greater being 

 tuberculated, und the lesser serrated on their 

 interior edges : it has four pair of legs ; the 

 tail has six joints; and the caudal fin is 

 rounded. The two great claws of the Lobster 

 constitute its instruments of provision and 

 defence : they open like a pair of nippers, 

 possess great strength, are notched like a 

 saw, and take a firm hold. Besides these 

 powerful members, which may be considered 

 as arms, the Lobster has eight legs and a 

 tail ; the latter, expanded laterally, being a 

 very powerful instrument for motion in 

 water. Between the two claws is placed the 

 head, very small, and furnished with eyes, 

 which are projectile or retractile at pleasure. 

 The mouth, like that of an insect, opens 

 longitudinally, and is furnished with two 

 teeth for the comminution of its food ; and 

 between them there is a fleshy substance 

 shaped like a tongue. The intestines consist 



of one long canal ; and the spinal marrow ! 

 is lodged in the breast-bone. The ovary, < 

 or place where the spawn is first produced, 

 is situated backward towards the tail, where 

 a red substance is always found, composed ; 

 of a number of small spawns, too minute for 

 exclusion : from this receptacle proceed two 

 canals, which open on each side of the June- ; 

 tures of the shell, towards the belly ; and 

 through these > passages the small round 

 particles, destined for the future young, 

 descend to be excluded, and arranged under 

 the tail. No sooner do the young quit the 

 parent Lobster than they seek refuge in the 

 minute crevices of the rocks and other secure 

 apertures ; and in a few weeks they acquire 

 hard, firm shells, which furnish them both 

 with defensive and otfcnsive armour. 



Like the crabs, they change their shelly 

 covering annually ; previous to which pro- 

 cess they appear sick, languid, and restless ; 

 no longer laboriously harrowing up the sand, 

 or hunting for their prey, but lying torpid 

 and motionless, as if in anxious expectation 

 of their approaching fate. They acquire 

 the new shell in about three or four days, 

 during which time, being perfectly defence- 

 less, they become the prey, not only of fish, 

 but also of such of their own species as are 

 not in the same condition. It is difficult to 

 conceive how they are able to draw the ; 

 muscles of their claws out of their hard j 

 covering ; but persons who have paid par- j 

 ticular attention to the subject say, that 

 during the pining state of the animal, before 

 casting its shell, the limb becomes contracted 

 to such a degree as to be capable of being 

 withdrawn through the joints and narrow 

 passage near the body. Like all other crus- 

 taceous animals, they only increase in size 

 whilst in a soft state ; and on comparing the 

 dimensions of the old shell with that of the 

 new, the latter is frequently found to be 

 one-third larger an amazing addition in 

 such a short interval, and which cannot be 

 explained on any known principle of animal 

 vegetation. 



These animals are very sensible to the 

 shock communicated to the fluid in which 

 they live, by the firing of cannon ; and the 

 circumstance of Lobsters losing their claws 

 from this cause, or from thunder-claps, is 

 well authenticated. The restoration of claws 

 lost thus, or from their frequent combats 

 with each other, in which the vanquished 

 party generally leaves one of his limbs in 

 his adversary's grasp, may be readily ob- 

 served, as the new limb seldom, if ever, 

 attains the size of the former one. In the 

 water they are very rapid in their motions, 

 and, when suddenly alarmed, can spring to 

 a great distance. They effect their retreat 

 in a rock with surprising dexterity, throwing 

 themselves into a passage barely sufficient 

 for their bodies to pass. Lobsters begin to 

 breed in the spring, and continue breeding 

 during part of the summer. In the months 

 of July and August the young may be ob- 

 served in great numbers in the little pools 

 left by the tide among the rocks. In some 

 places Lobsters are caught with the hand ; 

 but they are generally taken by means of 

 pots or traps, constructed of osier twigs, and 



