336 



EARTH TRESPASSERS. 



" The anterior and crustaceous portion of the 

 animal (or that usually protruded from its tenement), 

 is bright red, while the posterior and covered part of 

 the body is flaccid, and of a yellow colour. The left 

 forceps claw is larger than the right, though both are 

 shorter than the first pair of legs ; the eyes (ophthalmic 

 peduncles) are long, and admirably adapted to afford 

 a wide range of vision when the Coenobita is closely 

 retracted within the shell it inhabits. 



' ' Their odour is peculiar and disagreeable. 



" They were for the most part assembled in dense 

 crowds, beneath bushes, or in shallow excavations at 

 the roots of trees ; though some of them, notwith- 

 standing the cumbrous shells they carried, were clus- 

 tered on the branches or in the crevices of trees. It 

 was evident that, with- the assistance of their forceps 

 claws, they could climb a perpendicular height with 

 great facility. 



"It is a curious fact, that the most unique and 

 elegant univalve sea shell in my collection was 

 gathered from the branch of a tree, whither it had 

 been conveyed by one of these creatures. When 

 alarmed, they retreated, bearing their shells with 

 them, but if touched, they shrank into the cavity of 

 their dwellings and remained motionless. They some- 

 times, though very rarely, used their forceps in self- 

 defence. When irritated, they produce a shrill croak, 

 alternating with a rapid succession of sipping sounds. 



"We preserved several of them alive for many 

 weeks. They ate both animal and vegetable sub- 

 stance, as fish, land crabs, yams, and cocoa-nut. It 

 was amusing to see them feed, uipping off, with much 



