266 Animal Life 
THE SHORE CRAB, 
which the numerous eggs are collected until the time for hatching arrives. Now in the 
case of the Masked Crab the eggs are sufficiently protected by the retiring habits of the 
female, so we find that her “tail” is small and not much broader than that of the male. 
When the eggs are ripe for hatching they are sent up through the breathing-tube so 
that the young may find themselves in the clear water, free to go whither they will. 
Though the Masked Crab is plentiful on our coasts where there are stretches 
of sand it is little known owing to its secluded habits, but dead specimens may often 
be found after gales, and living ones may be obtained in plenty by examining the 
ground-seans which have been hauled after dark. 
At the beginning of these notes we have suggested that a comparision of the Masked 
Crab and the Shore Crab should be made, as the best means of realizing the 
modifications of form and structure that have taken place in order to fit the former 
for its special habits. To make this easier for inland readers we give a photograph 
of the Shore Crab in one of its characteristic attitudes. 
PUFFINS. 
Our Coloured Plate this month is of birds that may be seen in great quantities 
on Lundy Island (Lundy means Puffin Island—lunde puffin, and ly island), where 
their burrows are so numerous that in some places the soil is quite undermined and 
almost dangerous to walk on. The puffin possesses the reputation of being the 
most curious-looking British bird. This is chiefly due to its remarkable beak, which 
is made even more conspicuous by the brilliant colouration of that organ. The puffin is’ 
seldom absent altogether from the British Isles even in winter; but the time when 
it 1s most in evidence is from the end of March to the end of August. In severe 
weather it sometimes travels far inland, and Mr. Howard Saunders recalls a case of 
a puffin flying through an open window in Brook Street, London. 
