64 A NATURE WOOING. 



of the male fiddler may be either on the right or left 

 side. In its movements on land, which are sidewise, 

 very rapid and ludicrous, it carries the enlarged hand 

 above the ground, but on the slightest alarm, stops 

 and raises it, extending the fingers in a threatening 

 manner. This arm is also used to beckon or challenge 

 other males of their kind to a fight, hence they are 

 sometimes called a calling crabs." They burrow just 

 above high water mark along the banks of the river 

 and brackish marshes, honeycombing the ground with 

 innumerable openings of such a size that when they 

 retreat therein the great claw serves as a clog or 

 stopper for the entrance. These fiddler crabs are 

 much used as bait for fish, and myriads of them 

 doubtless fall a prey to crows, herons, gulls and other 

 shore visiting birds. 



That fish-like mammal, the harbor porpoise, or 

 puffing pig, Phoccena communis Lesson, is common 

 along the East Florida coast, and ascends the Halifax 

 River as far as Daytona. A number were seen to- 

 day, both in the surf of the ocean and in the river, 

 the former in herds or shoals, wallowing and sport- 

 ing, and ever and anon turning and exposing their 

 paler under surfaces. They reach a length of five and 

 a half feet, and are said to feed almost wholly upon 

 fish. From their blubber a fine oil is made, and their 

 skins are utilized for leather, but the flesh is impreg- 

 nated with the oily taste and strong odor character- 

 istic of all fish-eating animals. 



