K':^^ 



Sand dunes may sive way under gravity, set off by minute 

 dianges in temperature, and start "singing " This is a most 

 frightening noise, coming as it may do altogether uiiexpectedl> 

 m dead cahus. by day or by night, and sounding like bells 

 gongs, agonized animal wails, distant gunfire, or an avalanchean 

 roar. There are singing sands on the coast of New Jersey, and 

 some that I encountered near Toms River made "boing-boing 

 noises like those unearthly electronic musical instruments that 

 were tried out some years ago. As you walk quietly and gently 

 .>ver them in dead silence, they respond with eerie ululations 



SUNKEN LANDS AND SWAMPED RIVERS 



The little natural country of which we now speak has a strange 

 history. It is actually the bottom of a shallow sea that was once 



^larfi. 



the cOiiiUil shelf of 



this province. Most of them dwell on sandy bottoms, but 

 some, like this sun star, frequent rocky places. 



Right: This shore shelves gently out to sea and has a sandy 

 bottom that forms the habitat of many bivalve mollusks 

 and their natural enemies, the starfishes. 



Overleaf: The sand dunes support a meager flora of suc- 

 culent plants that can thrive in an excess of salt. Their roots 

 finally form soil. Few animals live among the dunes, but 

 the adjacent shores abound with sandpipers and sea gulh 



