THE AUSTRALIAN PHEASANT-SHELL. 



395 



shell is seen at the mouth, and a lucina at the base. The name Phorus is of Greek origin, 

 and signifies a carrier. The movements of the Phorus are said to be very clumsy, the 

 animal staggering and tumbling about like the stromb-shells already described. 



WE now arrive at the Top-shells, or Turbinidse, a rather large and important family. 

 In all these creatures the shell is spiral, and beautifully pearly in the interior, the nacre 

 appearing when the outer coating is removed. The animal has a short head, rather long 

 tentacles, with eyes mounted on footstalks at their base, and the head and sides are 

 decorated with fringed lobes. They are all inhabitants of the sea and are vegetarians in 

 their diet, their array of sharp teeth being very useful in rasping away the substances on 

 which they feed. 



IN former days, the PHEASANT- SHELLS were articles of great price and rarity, some 

 specimens almost rivalling the precious wentletrap in the enormous sums asked and obtained 

 for them. Now, however, that their habitations have been discovered, and more frequent 

 voyages are made, they have be- 

 come comparatively plentiful, al- 

 though, from the fragility of their 

 structure, a perfect specimen is 

 not at all common, and will still 

 bring a good price in the concho- 

 logical market. 



The Pheasant-shells are now 

 found in great numbers on the 

 sandy beaches of several shores, 

 being especially plentiful on 

 the coast of Port Western, in 

 Bass's Straits. The high tide 

 sweeps them towards the shore, 

 where they are left by the 

 receding waters, and seek for 

 shelter beneath the masses of 

 sea-weed that are always flung 

 on the beach by the tide. On 

 lifting these sheltering weeds, the 

 Pheasant-shells may be found 

 crowded together under their wet 

 fronds. They can move with 

 some speed, the duplicate nature 

 of the foot aiding them greatly 

 in progression. 



Although vegetable feeders to a great extent, the Pheasant-shells will eat animal 

 substances, and can be captured in great numbers by the simple process of lowering a net 

 to the bottom of the sea after baiting it with bits of meat tied to the meshes. They are 

 active creatures, always on the move, and therefore free from the various parasitic plants 

 and animals of the sea which invariably take possession of all stationary or sluggish 

 objects. This very activity, however, is injurious to the perfection of the fragile 

 shell, its delicate lip being mostly notched and broken by coming in contact with 

 hard substances. 



The colour of the Pheasant-shells is extremely variable, and after death the shell often 

 assumes quite a different tint to that which it bore during life. Several shells, which 

 presented tints of brown and green during the life of the inhabitant, changed to a reddish 

 hue after death and when the rays of the sun had poured their strange influence on them. 



As may be seen by the engraving, the animal is of a very curious shape. The tentacles 

 are extremely long, pointed, and slender, and the head is supplied with certain fringed 

 lobes. The foot is large, rounded in front and pointed behind, and is divided by a deep 



COMMON TOP. Trochus zizypUnus. 

 AUSTRALIAN PHEASANT-SHELL. Phasianella Austrdlis. 



