A. E. Verrill — Decapod Crustacea of Bermuda. 



309 



appearing near the eye-sockets ; a pair of small white spots close 

 behind the eye-sockets and another pair in the cardiac region. Legs 

 light grayish brown ; chelipeds darker and more red ; last joint 

 bright orange. Under side white. — C. S. V. 



The color is often more reddish than above described, especially 

 when immature. The youngest individuals were much palei*. The 

 dark purple and red colors are protective at night. 



Figure 2. — Land Crab, Gecarcinus lateralis, front view, nat. size. Drawing by 

 A. H. V. 



It is very common in sandy waste places on many of the smaller 

 islands, especially on those that are uninhabited, or nearh^ so. It 

 makes its deep burrows both near the shore and on the low hills, 

 20 to 30 feet high, at some distance from the shore and where the 

 shell-sand was nearly or quite dry. We found them both in open 

 land and among cedar bushes. Its burrows are often very long and 

 deep ; some that we dug out descended obliquely to the depth of 

 3 to 4 feet or more, and then ran off horizontally 4 to 5 feet, ending 

 in a small chamber. Others, equally large, were quite shallow. 

 Some of the young were exposed by turning over large flat stones, 

 under which they had burrowed. Many burrows were among the 

 tangled roots of cedars, etc., where they could not be dug out. 



The largest Bermuda specimen that I have seen was obtained at 

 St. Davids Island by the expedition of the Field Nat. Hist. Museum. 

 They also collected it at Cooper's I. and Castle I. None of the 

 specimens seen carried eggs,* though some were taken in midsummer 

 (Bermuda Biol. Station, Prof. Kincaid). 



Measurements in millimeters. 



* Young, with carapace 7-9™" long, were taken April 24, 1901. 



