THE CALLING AND THE HERMIT-CKAB. 657 



nearly equal in dimensions to the whole carapace, while the other claw 

 is quite small and feeble. It is remarkable that sometimes the right 

 and sometimes the left claw is thus developed. This animal is a most 

 determined fighter, and has the art of disposing its limbs like the arms 

 of a boxer, so as to be equally ready for attack or defence. 



The Fighting Crab lives on the seashore or on the border of salt 

 marshes and burrows deeply in the earth, the holes being tolerably 

 cylindrical and rather oblique in direction. In some places tliese 

 holes are so close together that the earth is quite honeycombed with 

 them, and the place looks like a rabbit-warren. Each burrow is ten- 

 anted by a pair of crabs, the male always remaining in the post of 

 danger at the mouth of the tunnel, and keeping guard with his great 

 claw at the entrance. 



While running, it has a habit of holding the large claw aloft and 

 moving it as if beckoning to some one — a habit which has caused one 

 of the species to be named the Calling Crab. This action has in it 

 something very ludicrous, and those who have watched the proceedings 

 of a crab-warren say that there are few scenes more ridiculous than that 

 which is presented by these crustaceans when they are alarmed and go 

 scuttling over the ground to their homes, holding up their claws and 

 beckoning in all directions. 



We now come to a singular group of crabs, which are remarkable 

 for their soft and shell-less tails and the mode employed to protect 

 them. From their 

 solitary habits they 

 are called Hermit- 

 crabs, and from 

 their extreme com- 

 bativeness they 

 have earned the 

 title of Soldier- 

 crabs. 



The best known 

 of these Crustacea 

 is the common 

 Hermit-crab of 

 England (Pagu- 

 rus Bernhardus), The Hermit-Crab, 



which is to be found ^" *^® ^^^^^ ^^ *^® common Whelk, with an anemone attached 



to shell. 



plentifully on our 



shores. Like all its race, the Hermit-crab inhabits the shell of some 

 mollusc, in which it can bury its unprotected tail, and into which it 

 can retreat when threatened with danger. The Hermit-crab usurps 

 the deserted home of various molluscs, according to its size, so that 



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