32 THE SEA- SHORE 



tooth-ribbons, and you may see them crawling 

 about on the glass walls and mowing down the 

 weeds, just as a gardener cuts the grass on the 

 lawn with his scythe. 



PLATE XII 



THE GREY TOP (2) 



The painted top is rather a large shell, for it 

 is often nearly an inch in height from the peak 

 to the margin. But the Grey Top, which is even 

 commoner still, is a good deal smaller. It is 

 not nearly so brightly tinted as the painted top, 

 for it is yellowish grey in colour, with zigzag 

 black streaks running round and round it, which 

 give it rather a mottled look. Still, it is a very 

 pretty shell indeed. 



If you look at a top shell from underneath, 

 you will always find that there is a small 

 hole in the bottom. This is the entrance to 

 a passage which runs right up into the peak 

 of the shell. In the grey top this hole is just 

 about big enough to admit a rather fine 

 needle. 



