68 THE SEA-SHORE 



interesting little pet it makes. But you must 

 remember that it is a very savage little animal, 

 and will certainly do its best to kill any other 

 creatures that you may put into the same vessel. 

 Even if you put two fiddlers together they are 

 almost sure to fight ; and the one which wins the 

 battle will kill and eat the one which loses it. 



When the Fiddler Crab is alive it is really a 

 very handsome little creature, for its blackish 

 shell is covered all over with soft, short down, 

 looking rather like velvet, while its legs are 

 striped with blue, and its claws are partly blue 

 and partly scarlet. 



PLATE XXIII 

 THE MASKED CRAB (i) 



The broad shelly shield which covers the back 

 of a crab is called the " carapace," and there are 

 certain markings upon it which are rather like 

 the features of a human face. But there is one 

 crab in which these markings are so deep and 

 strong that it looks just as if it were wearing a 

 mask. So it is always known as the "Masked 

 Crab." It is found on the southern and western 

 shores of England and Wales, and you may 

 always know it if you meet with it, not only 

 because of the face-like markings upon its back, 



