The Zoologist — June, 1869. 1703 



twenty-five or thirty degrees, no shell coulrl be found on it. And of 

 the bushes, too, it had its choice as to size, also. None seemed to 

 venture up a bush, or there was no attraction for them, if it were not 

 larger than the finger or thumb. It may very well be, that on the 

 small bushes they found nothing to eat ; but the same reason cannot 

 be given for their refusal to ascend larger leaning ones. 



It has been said above that, in winter, shells mostly lie dormant, not 

 on account of the cold, but of the dryness. But if, at this season, a 

 heavy shower occurs, which is not very unusual, they come out of 

 their hiding places and appear to be feeding ; not, indeed, in such 

 numbers as during the summer, for already many are dead. Now, 

 let a norther, which is a drying wind, spring up, and they haste away 

 to their retreats with all possible speed. Such a shower occurred on 

 a winter night when I was in the neighbourhood of Guane, where 

 there are excellent rocks for shells, and many and various shells 

 among the rocks. Early in the morning I found some specimens of 

 Melaniella Pichardi. They were not abundant, though I saved a con- 

 siderable number, and was desirous of collecting mere of them, as it 

 is by no means common. While I was at breakfast, a light norther 

 began blowing ; I made but little stay, and returned to the rocks, in 

 hopes, though not confident, of finding more : not one was to be seen, 

 however. Similar effects are produced by a norther on other shells. 

 Just at night I have observed Cyclostoma salebrosum, in numbers, on 

 rocks where, in the morning, if a norther prevailed during the night, 

 not one could be found but by searching among the leaves at the base 

 of the rocks. This shell, with some others, — as Cycl, rotundatum and 

 Cycl. undatum, — have a way of letting go and rolling to the bottom of 

 the rock if it be inclined (and they seem to prefer such), when they 

 see the hand approaching ; and this, apparently, when they have not 

 even one eye open : it would seem as if they felt the approach of 

 danger. 



A group of Cyclostomas,— C. claudicans, Poey, C. assimile, Gundl., 

 C. tenebrosum, Mor., and perhaps others, — spin a thread by which 

 they hang from the lower side of projecting rocks. When the weather 

 clears after a rain, numbers may be found thus at rest, particularly in 

 the early summer, when the young abound. Whether they can haul 

 in their line I am unable to say, but guess they cannot ; for many are 

 found with the border broken, which could hardly be so common, 

 unless caused by a fall from some height. If in this position they 

 fall, it must sometimes be a distance of fifty, or, it may be hundreds of 



