THE AMERICAN LOBSTER. 
29 
its body and brought out in its large “club claw” a small stone, which it deposited 
near the mouth of the burrow. Having thus removed this obstruction, it faced about 
and “backed,” tail first, into its newly acquired shelter. 
Tlie east pound at this place has 18 feet of water at half tide and an average depth 
of about 8 feet. On one side are low rocky cliffs, the talus of which gives shelter to 
many lobsters, while the low clay banks of the opposite shore are so completely under- 
mined by their burrows as to afford, in some places, a very insecure foothold. I 
examined these banks carefully from a boat, and had the opportunity of satisfying 
myself of the extent to which the tunneling operations had been carried on. The holes 
were driven horizontally into the mud bank to a distance of from 1 to 5 feet, and in 
each a lobster could either be seen, the tips of its large claws and its antennae standing 
out, or could be felt by inserting the end of an oar, the lobster fixing its large claws 
on the blade and sometimes allowing itself to be dragged out clear. 
The holes had sometimes a relatively large opening of 8 to 10 inches in diameter, 
which allowed of their being readily probed and measured with an oar blade. I did 
not observe that they ever had an upward or downward curve, but they sometimes 
swerve to the right or left, which is explained, perhaps, by the presence of some obstacle 
in the path. In some cases the holes were made beneath rocks, and the entrance was 
often much larger than that described, owing, perhaps, to the union of the mouths of 
two origin ally distinct burrows. The pile of dirt and the broken clam shells which 
are sometimes seen near the hole of the lobster recall the excavations of the muskrat. 
It is exceptional to see a lobster with its tail projecting from the borrow. I saw one 
or two under these circumstances, and when touched they immediately disappeared. 
I thought that possibly they might be engaged in digging while in this position, but 
this was evidently not the case, as the water about the hole was very clear. These 
pounds are often much roiled, so energetically do the lobsters turn over the bottom 
and dig into the banks. On this account it is not easy to watch the process of 
excavation, which in all probability is carried on at night. 
1 was informed by one fisherman, who had hunted lobsters quite extensively along 
the north Atlantic coast, that he had frequently taken lobsters out of holes in the 
mud and eelgrass, while wading in shallow water. It has been observed in pounds 
that a cold snap in winter will cause the lobsters to burrow suddenly in the mud, so 
that they can not be taken m traps for several days. We have already noticed the 
probable occurrence of the same thing in Newfoundland, when the temperature of the 
water is abruptly lowered. (See pp. 21, and 26, note 1.) 
The burrowing habits of certain species of crayfish are well known, while those 
of the Stomatopods, which have been described by Professor Brooks, (26 £) are equally 
characteristic. We meet with the same habit in many shrimp, such as Alpheus. 
expressed in a greater or less degree; in crabs, and in a great uumber of the lower 
Crustacea. 
THE FOOD OF THE LOBSTER AND HOW IT IS PROCURED. 
The food of the lobster consists principally of fish, alive or dead, and of inverte- 
brates which inhabit the bottom and come within its reach. It is not unusual to find 
bits of algae, such as the common eelgrass, in its stomach, and sometimes in such 
quantities as to show that it is not an accidental occurrence. Vegetable matter, 
however, forms, at most, but a small part of its diet. Fragments of dead shells are 
