140 HOW TO CATCH SHRIMPS. 



are eaten to any great extent by the inhabitants of 

 Scotland generally. 



On arriving at a pool, a person will soon know 

 whether shrimps are contained therein, from the 

 number of sand clouds that are raised by these little 

 crusty fellows at any intrusion upon their privacy. 

 Many persons employ a hand net, and pass it rapidly 

 through the water, thinking thereby to startle and 

 entrap the animals in question. Sometimes the plan 

 succeeds, but more often it turns out a failure. 



Instead of using the net, let the young zoologist 

 stoop down, place the palms of his hands suddenly 

 upon the surface of the sand, then slowly draw them 

 near each other, at same time cautiously close the 

 fingers, and he will in all probability feel the objects 

 of his search wriggling to escape from his unwelcome 

 and unfriendly grasp. 



To satisfy curiosity, take one of the captured 

 specimens and drop it in the sand that surrounds the 

 cavity in which your skill as a shrimper has been 

 exercised, and I will venture to assert that, in an 

 instant, the little creature will have disappeared 

 as if by magic such is the wonderful rapidity 

 with which the shrimp burrows itself. Even when 

 lying upon the surface a practised eye is required 

 to detect the presence of a shrimp, in consequence 

 of its colour being of the exact shade of the sand 

 in which it hides. In clear pools its body is of a 

 light drab colotir, which becomes changed to a dark 



