How Animals Work. 



The Calling Crabs of tropical and subtropical sea- 

 shores are most comical little diggers, the male crab 

 presenting a most laughable appearance, for one of his 

 claws is developed to an immense size, and brightly 

 coloured, while the other is quite small. As he scuttles 

 over the mud flats left dry by the receding tide, the 

 little crab flourishes aloft his great claw in a most absurd 

 manner, as if he were violently beckoning you to advance, 



The Calling Crab. 



or challenging you to, mortal combat ; but really, he is 

 not particularly valiant, and scuttles off to his den in 

 a great hurry if alarmed. He excavates a burrow about 

 a foot in depth, digging away with much persistence 

 and vigour, and the operation is both amusing and inter- 

 esting to watch. The crab scrapes away with his claws 

 until he has collected a little heap of the moist, muddy 

 sand, which he then grasps with some of the legs on 

 one side of his body, and ambles off to a distance with 



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