I7b 



NATURE'S CALENDAR 



August 6 



water here, and that in late summer and 

 early autumn the surface water around 

 Long Island and thence eastward to Buz- 

 zard's Bay is very warm, and a great host 

 of marine invertebrates may be gathered 

 there by the naturalist's dredge and tow- 

 ing-net. This attracts a host of small 

 predacious fishes, and after them come 

 the larger ones, like the swordtish, sharks, 

 and the smaller cetaceans. All these, 

 big and little, are most numerous in the 

 evening and on still nights, when many 

 rise to the surface that in daylight or in 

 stormy weather remain in the depths. 



Among these free swimmers in the 

 open sea most of the crabs may be seen, 

 and the young of all of them, including 

 the lobster. The larvae of marine worms 

 are numerous, having a youthful "liing" 

 before settling down to a fixed position 

 in the mud or sand. The same is true of 

 many mollusks. 



" Most of the higher gastropods," says 

 Verrill, " enclose their eggs in capsules, 

 which they attach to stones, algae, or 

 shells, and within these the eggs hatch, 

 and the young have a well-formed shell 

 before they eat their way out of the cap- 

 sules, and when free they crawl about by 

 means of the ' foot,' like the adult. But 

 in the lower orders of gastropods most 

 of the young, when first hatched, are fur- 

 nished with vibrating cilia, and swim 

 free, by this means, for a short time. 

 These larvae are very different from the 



August 7 



