THE BLUE CRAB PIERS. 8S 



shallow, and the bottom mostly sand, overlaid with decaying 

 organic material. 



The place where all these specimens were obtained was at 

 the southwestern end of the sand beach, near the present out- 

 let of the Lily Pond, or Cow Bay Pond as it is sometimes 

 called, about four-fifths of a mile southwest of the Mosher 

 house. The two which were collected in brackish water 

 were taken in the adjoining pond, close to the outlet, and 

 therefore in the immediate vicinity of where the others were 

 found in salt water. 



Cow Bay itself is on the Atlantic coast, seven miles in a direct 

 line east-southeast from the city of Halifax, in Halifax County, 

 and lies between Hartling Point on the west and Osborne Head 

 on the east. It has a long beach of sand and gravel, exposed ta 

 the full inward sweep of the Atlantic Ocean.* The locality is 

 very scantly settled by farmers. 



One male Blue Crab was obtained from Beazley and Henrion, 

 fish dealers, of Halifax, who told me it had been taken at Cole 

 Harbour, Halifax County, on 25th November 1902; but as Cole 

 Harbour is about three miles northeast from Cow Bay, and it is 

 the only specimen reported to have come from there, I think it 

 very probable that it also came from the latter place. The dealer 

 had purchased it from someone living in that district, and may 

 have mistaken the name of the exact locality, as such details 

 were of no interest to him. 



All of the Cow Bay specimens were obtained in the Halifax 

 market from one woman, who then lived in that district, and 

 they were taken by her brothers. She told me that no one 

 about Cow Bay to whom the crabs had been shown, had seen 

 the species before. Since the spring of 1903, this woman has 

 ceased coming to the market, and 1 have not since happened to 

 note any of the crabs exposed for sale. I am therefore not in a 

 position to state whether the colony still exists at Cow Bay, 

 but there can be hardly any doubt that it does, as it seemed to 

 be well established. 



Besides the Cow Bay occurrence, I am only aware of this 

 species having been once taken elsewhere in Nova Scotian waters. 

 Mr. E. Chesley Allen, formerly of Yarmouth but now of Halifax, 

 informs me that he identified a single adult specimen of C. sapidus 



* For an account of Cow Bay b&achandits pond, see Mcintosh, Prof. D. S., A Study of the Cow 

 Bay Beache.. Trans. N. S. Inst. Sc. vol. 14. pt. 2. p. 109. 1906. 



