THE NAUTILUS. 

 A DAY'S COLLECTING AT ANTILLA, CUBA. 



JOHN B. HENDERSON, JR. 



The very new little town of Antilla, at the head of Nipe Bay, 

 Cuba, is a very unlikely looking place for land-shells. Off in the 

 distance are fine ranges of high mountains that beckon to the col- 

 lector, but the few hills near Antilla are low and seem always to be 

 surrounded by mangrove swamps and therefore quite inaccessible. 

 In the hopes of finding something we turned to the only approachable 

 hill, one lying just at the edge of the town. It is a wretched little 

 apology for a hill, without rocks or any good feature for the collector 

 other than a somewhat vigorous crown of vegetation. Arrived at 

 the spot we found the place most uninviting. Goats, pigs, chickens 

 and the whole assortment of Cuba's domesticated fauna ranged the 

 woods, and a very dead horse sent clear to Heaven a protest against 

 our invasion. 



But no collector of land-shells happening along Antilla way should 

 neglect devoting an hour or so to these goat-infested woods, for right 

 there live in reasonable abundance the finest Polymita muscarum 

 that ever came out of Cuba. Practically all the color varieties 

 known of that really exquisite arboreal snail appear to live there. 

 They range from black (with one orange band) through the yellows 

 and reds (generally brilliantly painted in bands) to the pure china- 

 ware glazed white. One would naturally suppose that so bright a 

 color spot on a tree as this shell presents would be most easily 

 detected. "When once seen it certainly looks easy enough, yet I 

 feel sure that v/e collected but a small proportion of the inhabitants. 

 The reason is that the snail usually hides in the crotch of a limb, or 

 fastens itself to the trunk of shrub or tree at just the spot where a 

 convenient leaf covers him. The best manner of stalking them is 

 to look along the ground for " bones " and when a " cemetery " is 

 found then turn the eyes upward to the vegetation, for these creatures 

 seem to have a gregarious habit and live in colonies. This may not 

 be true in the rainy season when all tropical snails are more active. 



From this little wooded hill we took besides the muscarum some 

 very fine Cepolis alauda Fer. of the more typical form than is usually 

 seen in collections. This is also a tree snail with much the same 

 habit as the muscarum but they do not affect the colonial mode of 

 life as definitely, and they are less shy in exposing themselves on 



