62 



THE HUMMING BIRD. 



{August i, 1 89 1 



A Giant Land Crab. 



In wandering over Kneeling Island the naturalist's 

 attention was immediately attracted by a giant land 

 crab, Birgos, which lived here, feeding upon cocoa- 

 nuts. The crab is, in reality, a close ally of the her- 

 mit variety, having, instead of a shell, an abdomen 

 protected by an armour. That such a creature can 

 open a cocoanut, which man finds difficult, even with 

 a hatchet, seems incredible, yet it is a very simple 

 matter for the big crustacean. It begins by tearing 

 away the husk, bit by bit, fibre by fibre, and, what is 

 remarkable, always at the end bearing the two eye- 

 holes. When the husk has been removed, the crab 

 hammers away at the holes with its large claw until 

 an opening is made. But then, one may ask, how 

 can it obtain the meat ? The crab solves this by 

 turning around and inserting its long, slender, fifth 

 claw into the orifice, which, being armed with pincers, 

 takes out the meat bit by bit. " I think," says Dar- 

 win, " this is as curious a case of instinct as ever I 

 heard of, and likewise of adaptation in structure 

 between two objects apparently so remote from each 

 other in the scheme of nature as a crab and a cocoa- 

 nut tree. The Birgos is diurnal in its habits ; but 

 every night it is said to pay a visit to the sea, no 

 doubt for the purpose of moistening its branchiae. 

 The young are likewise hatched, and live for some 

 time, on the coast. These crabs inhabit deep bur- 

 rows, which they hollow out beneath the roots of 

 trees, and where they accumulate surprising quanti- 

 ties of the picked fibres of the cocoa-nut husk, on 

 which they rest as in bed. The Malays sometimes 

 take advantage of this, and collect the fibrous mass 

 to use as junk. It has been stated by some authors 

 that the Birgos crawls up the cocoa-nut trees for the 

 purpose of stealing the nuts ; I very much doubt the 

 possibility of this. I was told by Mr. Liesk that on 

 these islands the Birgos lives on the nuts which 

 have fallen to the ground. To show the wonderful 

 strength of the front pair of pincers, I ■ may 

 mention that Captain Moresby confined one in 

 a strong tin box, which had held biscuits, the lid 

 being secured with wire ; but the crab turned down 

 the edges and escaped. In turning down the edges 

 it actually punched many small holes quite through 

 the tin !" 



THE NATURALISTS AGENCY, 

 225, High Holborn, London, W.C. 



Has just received several specimens of these Gigantic 

 land Crabs, from Japan, as also many other species of 

 Crustacea, including Lobsters, Crabs, Shrimps, etc. 



Also Reptiles, Echinoderms, Sponges, Corals, Marine, Fluvia- 

 tile and Land Shells, 300 species, Insects, Colcoplera, Lcpidop- 

 tera, Butterflies and Moths, Orthoptera, Diptera,Hymenoptera, 

 Neuroptera, Hemiptera, several thousand species, and a fine 

 Collection of Bird Skins, the whole suitable for public or 

 private Museums. 



An Easy Way of making One Hundred 

 Pounds' Sterling a Year in Collecting 

 Specimens of Natural History at Leisure 

 Time. 



Continued from pages 7, 15, 23, 32, 56. 



FOSSILS. 



All petrified objects found in the water or in the 

 earth as Rocks, Shells, Bones, Plants, Animals, etc., 

 are fossils. 



They have value when they are beautiful specimens 

 and very complete. 



Pack them with paper or soft substance in small 

 boxes. 



BRIGHT INSECTS AND SHELLS. 



Jewellers, Plumassiers, Florists, Modists and other 

 manufacturers make a great use of them. 



They must be collected by hundreds and thousands. 



Women and children can be very useful for that 

 purpose. 



Put them to dry in the sun and pack them by 

 species, in boxes, in which you pour benzine, and paste 

 strips of paper all over. 



The more you collect, the better; because it is 

 easier to sell when you have a large quantity of 

 each species ; but take care that they are bright and 

 pretty species. Dull specimens are of no value. 



FEATHERS AND BIRD SKINS FOR 

 INDUSTIAL PURPOSES. 



Since twenty years a very large trade has been done 

 with all kinds of feathers and bird skins for industrial 

 purposes. Foremost of all are the Ostrich feathers. 

 They are sent chiefly from South Africa, where 

 extensive breeding farms of these birds have been 

 established during the last twenty years. 



In last sale, June 5th, 2,140 cases Cape and 6 cases 

 Egyptian were sold and realized the handsome sum 

 of ^102,000. 



During the last ten years they have tried the farm- 

 ing of Ostriches in Algeria, but for one cause or 

 another, they have not succeeded : 



All the young die, but I don't see why a better 

 result could not be obtained. I think it ought to 

 succeed, if an enterprising and competent Naturalist 

 should under take the task, after one or two years of 

 aprenticeship, on South African farms. 



A small quantity of Ostrich feathers is also sent 

 yearly from Senegal and other parts of West Africa. 

 This trade is in the hands of Arabs, who gather them 

 in the interior of Africa, where these birds are found 

 wild. 



Although these feathers plucked from wild birds 

 are stronger and nearly as fine as these sent from S. 

 Africa, they are not so much in demand and they sell 

 at a lower price. 



Next to the Ostrich, Osprey feathers fetch a good 

 price, and the sale is illimited for the best qualities. 



There are three varieties of Osprey feathers known 

 in the trade, as Short, Middle and Long Osprey. 



The medium price varies between 12 and 60/- per 

 ounce. What is known as Short Selected is about 6 

 inches long with curved tip. They are the feathers of 



