166 UPLAND AND MEADOW. 



Is it for the purpose of "locating" the presence of food 

 upon land, not too far for them to reach ? Doubtless, if 

 an abundance of food is to be had in the waters, eels pre- 

 fer to feed upon it then and there; but my observations 

 indicate tliat the food is not necessarily out of reach 

 simply because it is on dry land. 



Abundant as were the number of fishes found that 

 morning in the pond-weeds drawn from the creek, ani- 

 mal life was by no means confined to this family. Crus- 

 taceans were well represented in individuals, if not in 

 species; and everywhere in the weeds were crawling, 

 impatient crayfish, of two kinds, large, half-grown, and 

 pygmies. The differences between these are not very 

 apparent at first glance, but are persistent and readily 

 recognized, after a little schooling. It consists mainly 

 in the way the snout is pointed ; in one, the slender 

 crayfish, it is broad, of uniform width, and comes rapidly 

 to a point ; in the other, Blanding's crayfish, it gradually 

 tapers from the base to the point. These two species 

 proved about equally common in the mass of weeds to- 

 day, but, considering the creek as one locality, probably 

 the broad-snouted crayfish is somewhat the more abun- 

 dant. In certain ditches, connected with Crosswicka 

 Creek, on the other hand, the slender-snouted form is 

 greatly in excess. 



Some years ago I gave a summer to these crayfish, 

 and learned a very little about them ; but my observa- 

 tions during subsequent years have necessitated my 

 unlearning a half of this too quickly acquired knowl- 

 edge. Probably what little I now know of them will be 



