NATURAL HISTORY. 25 
Already mentioned incidentally in connection 
with the worm with which it shares its permit 
stolen shell, the “soldier crab” is afamiliar crab 
object in every rock pool, where the sight of a whelk- 
shell crawling over the ground occasions for the 
first time as much wonderment as the sight of the 
first caddis, which many take for an inanimate stick. 
This crustacean secretes so poor an armour that it is 
compelled to seek shelter in a whelk-shell, not, as 
many have asserted, ejecting the whelk, which would 
be an impossibility, but looking about for an empty 
shell. This dwelling it is compelled to change 
when it grows too bulky, usually after casting the 
small shell that keeps some of its soft parts within 
_ bounds, and then combats frequently ensue with 
other hermits in possession of the coveted quarters. 
In addition to the useful worm, one species of 
hermit at any rate has a mutual understanding 
with an anemone, which fastens on the shell, 
hiding the orifice from passing fishes, which prob- 
ably take its pedestal for a stone, and getting in 
return free rides and possibly board as well. The 
larger hermits are usually found in the shells of 
whelk or winkle, but I have taken smaller examples 
from nearly a dozen kinds. 
The herring is here mentioned as a bait, although 
numbers are occasionally taken by the 
amateur, especially in Scotch waters, and 
it is even said to rise freely to a fly. This fish, the 
type of what is probably our most important family 
of food fish, is silvery, soft-finned, and lacking the 
curved lateral line characteristic of the majority of 
fishes. It is gregarious, and the immense shoals 
perform seasonal migrations, formerly considered 
Herring 
