450 BEE RACING CRAB . 
male always remaining in the post of danger at the mouth of the tunnel, and keeping guard 
with his great claw at the entrance. 
While running, it has a habit of holding the large claw aloft, and moving it as if beckon- 
ing to some one, a habit which has caused one of the species to be named the Calling Crab. 
This action has in it something very ludicrous, and those who have watched the proceedings of 
„a crab-warren say that there are few scenes more ridiculous than that which is presented by 
the crustaceans when they are alarmed and go scuttling over the ground to their homes, 
holding up their claws and beckoning in all directions. The generic name is derived from a 
Greek word signifying laughter, and is given to the crabs because no one can look at them 
without laughing. These crustaceans possess very long footstalks, on which their eyes are 
placed, but, as has already been mentioned, the second joint of the footstalk is long and the 
first is short. 
The Fiddler Crabs, or, as they are called also, Fighting Crabs, are represented in America 
by the Gelasimus pugillator. They are characterized by the singular difference between the 
two fore-arms. The above description and figure apply very closely to the American form. 
We have seen thousands of these crabs, of the same uniform size, throughout the army, which 
they simulated, covering an area of many yards on a smooth beach. 
The ludicrous uplifting of the great arm — though sometimes earning for them the name of 
fiddlers, the arms looking like bass viols — when these creatures were moving together, suggested 
most readily an army on the march, and manoeuvring meantime. An interesting feature was 
observed, in that being crowded closely, each touching the next, their movements were the 
result of simultaneous impulse. The whole army would be seen approaching you, steadily as 
a heavy column of troops ; anon the entire mass wheeled, or changed instantly, and with the 
greatest precision, to oblique march or in echelon. We observed this at Cedar Keys, in West 
Florida. 
This crab is not uniformly distributed in New England, being found in scattered localities. 
A beautiful species called Lady- 
crab, or Sand-crab (. Platyoniculus 
ocellatus ), was once found in the 
harbor-side waters near Boston, but 
is now nearly if not quite extinct 
in the eastern portions of New Eng- 
land. 
Closely allied to these creatures 
is the Racing Crab ( Ocypode cursor ), 
sometimes called the Sand-crab, from 
its habit of burrowing in the sand. 
In our illustration it is represented 
of the natural size. Sir J. Emerson 
Tennent, in his “ Natural History of 
Ceylon,” writes as follows of this 
crab : “In the same localities, or a little inland, the Ocypode burrows in the dry soil, 
making deep excavations, bringing up literally armfuls of sand, which, with a spring in 
the air, and employing its other limbs, it jerks far from its burrows, distributing it in a 
circle to the distance of many feet. So inconvenient are the operations of these industrious 
pests, that men are kept regularly employed at Colombo in filling up the holes formed by them 
on the surface of the Galle Pace. This, the only equestrian promenade of the capital, is so 
infested by these active little creatures, that accidents often occur through horses stumbling in 
their troublesome excavations.” 
These crabs run with surprising swiftness, and it is by no means easy to catch them before 
they escape into their burrows. Sometimes they are made to afford a few hours’ amusement 
to military officers and other persons who have too much time on their hands, the struggle 
between man and crab being as exciting as the battle between an eagle and a salmon. One 
We never saw it in the vicinity of Boston, Mass. 
RACING CRAB .— Ocypode cursor. 
