138 



THE FOOD OF ANIMALS 



abode. In this instance the whole of the tail is soft, and the last 

 pair of limbs, which in a lobster make up the sides of the tail- fin, 



Fig. 403. — Hermit Crabs [Pagnrits Bernhardus), One is taking possession of a new and larger Iiouse. 



are here modified into hooks for holding on to the inside of the 

 shell. These animals are highly predaceous in habit, and also, 

 as one of their common names indicates, extremely pugnacious. 

 From Hermit-Crabs we pass to Crabs proper, constituting the 

 Short- tailed Decapods (see vol. i, p. 411). The tail, in fact, is 

 so short and small as to be useless as a swimming organ, and 



