62 CHAPTERS ON THE NATURAL HISTORY 



cocoanut trees, and live upon that fruit. In old times it was 

 believed they used to climb the trees for these, but such a theory 

 has become obsolete. They feed, doubtless, only upon the fallen 

 nuts, and two opinions seem to be in vogue as to how they get 

 the meat out of these. Some say they peel off the cocoa-fiber, 

 then insert the pincer into the soft "eye" of the fruit, and by 

 turning about work out the substance lining the interior. 

 Others contend that, when it gets its claw into the eye-hole, the 

 crab pounds the nut on a stone until it is broken open. 



Robber-crabs line their burrows with the cocoa-fiber they tear 

 from the nuts, aud the natives in turn rob them of it to make 

 their mats. These crabs also yield an excellent oil, derived from 

 a mass of fat beneath the tail. 



" Calling crabs " are remarkable fellows ; there is a species of 

 them in Ceylon that has one very small claw, while the other is 

 bigger than its owner's body. When approached, this species 

 brandishes its ponderous pincer at you in the most threatening 

 manner possible. Less timid people than those awed by this 

 behavior say that the crab is simply beckoning to you to advance, 

 and hence the name that has been bestowed upon them. Ceylon 

 also has a " racer crab " that the inhabitants have long voted to 

 be a great nuisance. Its numerous and deep burrows made in 

 the sandy roads of the island have to be continually looked after 

 and filled up, by parties employed for that purpose. "Where this 

 is not done, accidents have occurred to horses and vehicles. 



We have some beautiful species of crabs on our Pacific Coast, 

 as the " Yellow shore crab " and the " Purple shore crab." 

 Chinamen are fond of these, and cook them by stringing them on 

 wires and hanging them over the lire. Both of these species are 

 very numerous, though of small size. 



Several year's ago I was fishing off the coast of Connecticut, 

 and was greatly annoyed by dogfish taking my hooks and bait. 

 Finally I captured one of these troublesome fellows, and opened 

 him to find my missing hooks. In his stomach were some four or 

 five handsome little crabs, with very hard shells and thick claws. 

 They were specimens of what every one there called " rock 

 crabs," they being very common at the rocky reefs off shore, 

 when the tide was out. In Long island Sound we also meet 

 with the " mud crabs," the " Jonah crabs," and the " stone 

 crabs," and other forms. 



Many interesting books have appeared on the developement of 



