12 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



plumage, the ruddy legs, the red and yellow 

 bill, the shrill cry, the rapid flight, make it very 

 conspicuous. It breaks a hole in one valve of 

 the mussel's shell, and inserting its bill scoops 

 out the palatable flesh. With a dexterous 

 side-stroke of its strong bill it can jerk the 

 limpet off the rock ; but to do this, as everyone 

 knows who has tried, it is necessary to take the 

 mollusc unawares and to strike quickly. 



REPTILES. There is a marine lizard 

 (Amblyrhynchus) on the Galapagos Islands 

 that swims out to sea and dives after seaweed. 

 There are sea-snakes that come ashore to 

 bring forth their young. Crocodiles and 

 alligators may be found on the shores of 

 estuaries. The sea-turtles bury their eggs in 

 the sand of sun-baked shores. 



AMPHIBIANS. There seems to be something 

 about salt that is prejudicial to amphibians. 

 Thus they are not found near the sea and are 

 unrepresented on Oceanic Islands, where the 

 tenants are restricted to those creatures that 

 could survive being drifted on logs and the 

 like, or could be carried by birds or the wind. 

 But we are reminded of the danger of hard- 



