ampullaria's eggs. 163 



morning twilight. And when fishing on the reef, or 

 a short distance from the shore, he had often seen 

 them in company with Piramidigs {Chordeiles Vir- 

 ginianus) at the same hours, but not during the 

 middle part of the night. Yet I have observed, 

 when the moon is at the full, small Bats {Phyllo- 

 stomes, I suspect), flitting round the house as late as 

 ten o'clock, or even later. 



All Bats are called by the negroes Rat-bats, pro- 

 bably to distinguish them from Butterflies, to which 

 they give the name of Bats. A little sable urchin 

 came to me one day, and asked me in evident sin- 

 cerity, "Do you want to buy any Bats, Massa?" 

 Then opening his hand he displayed two of our 

 most common butterflies, squeezed flat, rubbed clean, 

 and one of them deprived of two of its wings ! what 

 price he intended to charge, I did not ascertain. 



ampullaria's eggs. 



April 5th. — In the little rapid stream called 

 Sweet River, I found several specimens of an Am- 

 puUaria alive, and many groups of the eggs of this 

 mollusk. They are laid, for the most part, in a 

 double row, attached by a glutinous substance to the 

 stalks and leaves of plants overhanging the water, 

 but not immersed. The eggs are oval, shelly, pure 

 white, and nearly as large as sweet peas. In many 

 I found the shell and operculum of the young 

 animal, perfectly formed ; in others only a white 

 cream, or curdy substance. 



