BIRGUS LATKO. 321 



the last day of its life. Being desirous of observing the manner in 

 which the husk was removed, I had a cocoa-nut with its husk placed 

 in the coop in which the crab was kept. On one occasion the Birgiis 

 was surprised with the nut between its large claws ; but, notwith- 

 standing that no other food was offered to it for a day and a half, it 

 did not attempt to strip off the husk. So the operation was done 

 for it, and a small hole was knocked in the top of the shell. On the 

 following day I found the shell — a young and somewhat thin one — 

 broken irregularly across the middle, wnth the soft white kernel 

 already removed and eaten. It was afterwards found necessary to 

 break the nuts for its daily food. 



In 1884, when the " Lark " was in Bougainville Straits, three of 

 these crabs were kept on board with the intention of taking them 

 down to Sj^dney. Mr. W. Isabell, leading-stoker of the ship, looked 

 well after them, as he had also done in the case of the previous 

 crab, but within three or four weeks they had all died. The cocoa- 

 nuts had to be husked and broken for them, as they were in vain 

 tempted to do it for themselves. One crab, however, was frequently 

 observed clasping between its claws a full-grown unhusked nut, the 

 upper end of which showed deep grooves and dents from the blows 

 of its claws ; and Mr. Isabell and I came to the conclusion that the 

 coop, in which these crabs were placed, was too low to allow of the 

 free play of the great claws. 



My evidence alone would be suflScient to convict the Birgus of 

 this offence : for an offender it would certainly be in the eyes of the 

 owner of a plantation of cocoa-nut palms. I learned from Mr. 

 Isabell that the first crab we had on board consumed, on the average, 

 two cocoa-nuts in three davs. A number of these crabs in a cocoa- 

 nut plantation, might therefore prove a considerable pest : fur, if 

 this betokens the quantity of food which the Birgus consumes in a 

 state of nature, a smo-le crab in the course of twelve months would 

 dispose of about 250 cocoa-nuts, which represent the annual produc- 

 tion of three palms and between 20 and 30 quarts of oil. 



As these crabs disliked observation, I was unable to gain much 

 knowledge of their habits by watching. During the day-time they 

 were sluggish, did not eat, and kept themselves in the further 

 corner of the coop, as far from the light as possible. At night they 

 moved about very actively and fed vigorously on the cocoa-nuts. 

 The natives of the Shortlands, who were well-acquainted with the 

 cocoa-nut eating habit of the Birgus, described to me the mode of 



