118 



PEARSE. 



legs; the chela (always the small one in the male) is pressed 

 down upon it from above while the second and third legs support 

 it from below. After it has been drawn into the mouth of the 



. Fig. 2. — A fiddler-crab closing its burrow by pulling a disk of mud in after itself. 



burrow, it is usually adjusted from below for a few moments, 

 and then its surface often meets that of the groimd in such a 

 way that it is difficult to discern. It was observed that when 

 the mud was somewhat dry, fiddlers frequently went to the edge 

 of the advancing tide to secure softer material, and in this 

 showed some discrimination. 



Fig. 3. — Showing an unusual method of closing a burrow 



Although the method just described was the usual one employed 

 in closing burrows, fiddlers were twice seen to depart from it. 

 Once a male pushed a mass of soft mud up ahead of him nearly 



