YOHNNY DARTERS. 33 
in creation except owls, — and a touch of a finger 
on its tail showed that it had lost none of its activ- 
ity. It was quite improbable that it had been 
buried so completely by accident. We therefore 
cleared of stones a small spot, leaving the hard 
white sand exposed, and awaited developments. 
Then for days we watched it closely, only to learn 
that it could bury itself with great celerity, for it 
was not caught in the act. But our patience was 
at last rewarded; for one morning, as we came out 
to breakfast, it put its nose, that we now know has 
a tip nearly as hard as horn, against the bottom, 
stood up nearly straight on its head, and with a 
swift beating of the tail to right and left was in less 
than five seconds completely buried. The sand 
had been violently stirred, of course; and just as 
it had nearly settled, probably in less than half a 
minute, its nose was put quietly out, and settling 
back left the twinkling eyes and narrow forehead 
alone visible. 
Since then we have kept scores of them in an 
aquarium arranged especially for their conven- 
ience, and have often seen them burrow into the 
sand. They will remain buried so long as the water 
is pure and cool. Indeed, we now rely almost en- 
tirely on them to warn us when the water needs 
changing. When this need is felt, they come out 
of the sand and lie on the bottom panting vio- 
lently. We have been unable to discover any im- 
mediate incentive for the act. It seems to be 
entirely unpremeditated. A number of them in 
confinement lie helplessly on the bottom, motion- 
less and slowly breathing, when one suddenly 
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