22 
ORCHESTlIJDiE. 
It is in the summer months that they occur in such 
vast numbers. In the winter there is scarcely one to he 
seen ; and when the frost is sharp, and the snow lies upon 
the ground, the Sand-hoppers appear to have retired into 
winter-quarters. This was first observed by Colonel 
Montagu. At this season we have noticed their general 
absence at Whitsand Bay, as has also our friend Mr. 
Barlee, at Exmouth. But Mr. Gosse informs us that 
they have been found at Weymouth, under the “half- 
rotten beds of algae (chiefly laminaria) ” all the winter. 
When captured they feign death, and often keep up 
the deception for a considerable time. In this position, 
by the close packing of their scaly appendages, they are 
more secure from the attacks of beetles and other smaller 
enemies. Their colour when alive is a light fawn, marked 
down the centre of the back with black. 
This species is one of the most perfect dwellers upon 
the land that we have among the European Amphipoda. 
They die if kept in water for any time, yet a certain 
amount of saline moisture appears necessary to lubricate 
the branchiae. Though residing on land, they possess a 
purely aquatic character. In the southern hemisphere 
allied species have been taken many miles inland upon 
the stems of succulent plants. 
This species is probably to be met with upon all the 
sandy shores of the temperate zone in southern and 
western Europe. In this country we have received it 
from the Moray Frith, in Scotland, where, the Rev. 
George Gordon says, it occurs in great abundance. 
Mr. W. Thompson and Professor Kinahan record it as 
common in Ireland. Specimens from Cultra, Belfast 
Bay, collected in May by Mrs. Patterson, and others 
from Newcastle, county Down, collected in the autumn, 
are preserved in the late W. Thompson’s collection in 
