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diff --git a/10513.txt b/10513.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7914637 --- /dev/null +++ b/10513.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2382 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, On the Seashore, by R. Cadwallader Smith + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + + + + +Title: On the Seashore + +Author: R. Cadwallader Smith + +Release Date: December 22, 2003 [eBook #10513] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON THE SEASHORE*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Thomas Hutchinson, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original lovely illustrations. + See 10513-h.htm or 10513-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/5/1/10513/10513-h/10513-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/0/5/1/10513/10513-h.zip) + + + + +Cassell's "Eyes and No Eyes" Series, Seventh Book + +ON THE SEASHORE + +By R. CADWALLADER SMITH + + + + + + +With Eight Colour Plates And Many +Black-And-White Illustrations + + + + + +CONTENTS + + +LESSON + + I. FIVE-FINGERED JACK + + II. A STROLL BY THE SEA + + III. BIRDS OF THE SHORE + + IV. CRABS + + V. SHRIMPS, PRAWNS AND BARNACLES + + VI. PLANTS OF THE SHORE + + VII. FLOWER-LIKE ANIMALS + +VIII. SEA-WEEDS AND SEA-GRASS + + IX. THE JELLY-FISH + + X. SHELLS AND THEIR BUILDERS (1) + + XI. SHELLS AND THEIR BUILDERS (2) + + + + +LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS + + +COLOUR PLATES + + +TREASURES OF THE SEASHORE [Missing] + +GULLS + +THE REDSHANK + +HERMIT CRABS FIGHTING + +THE COMMON LOBSTER AND HERMIT CRAB + +CRUSTACEA + +WEST PAN SAND BUOY + +SHELLS + + + +BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS + + +COMMON FIVE-FINGERED STARFISH + +TEST OR SHELL OF A SEA-URCHIN + +THE CRAB + +PURSE CRAB + +HERMIT CRAB IN WHELK'S SHELL + +HERMIT CRAB WITH SEA FLOWERS + +THE LOBSTER + +THE SHRIMP + +SEA LILY + +SEA ANEMONE + +SEA-WEED FROND + +SEA MAT + +MEDUSA + +A MEDUSOID + +PRECIOUS WENTLETRAP + +COWRIES + + + + + + + +LESSON I. + + +FIVE-FINGERED JACK. + +What fun it is down by the sea at low tide! Scrambling among the +slippery rocks, we quickly fill a bucket with curious things. Some are +dead, others very much alive; but all have a story to tell us--the story +of the life they lead on the bed of the sea, or among the sands and +rocks of the shore. + +Look, here is a Starfish! It is lying on the sand, left high and dry by +the waves, for now the tide is low. The Starfish looks limp and +lifeless, its five reddish-coloured "arms" are quite still. + +We know it is an animal that lives in the sea, and dies when washed +ashore. But what does it do in the sea? How does it move without legs or +fins? How can it live without a head? Has it a mouth? What does it eat, +and how does it find its food? + +Like so many other sea-animals, the Starfish is a puzzle. Some of its +little tricks puzzled clever people until quite lately. But we know most +of its secrets now. + +Pass your finger down one of its arms, or rays. It feels rough, being +covered with knobs and prickles. Now turn the Starfish over, and look +carefully at its underside. In the centre, where the five arms meet, is +the animal's mouth. A harmless sort of mouth, you think, too small to be +of much use. Really, it is a terrible mouth, the mouth of an ogre! + +We notice a groove down the centre of each ray. But what are those +little moving things which bend this way and that, as if feeling for +something? Now that is exactly what they are doing. They are the feet of +the Starfish. Each tiny foot is really a hollow tube, which can be +pushed out or drawn in. At the tip of each is a powerful sucker, which +acts rather like those leather suckers boys sometimes play with. Suppose +the Starfish wishes to take a walk along the bed of the sea. First, it +pushes out its tube-feet. Each sucker fixes itself to a stone or other +object, and then the animal can draw its body along. You will see +presently that the suckers can do other work too. + +Our Starfish will die, however, unless we carry it to a pool. Before +doing so, we must look at the tip of each ray for a small reddish spot. +That is the Starfish's eye. Are those little eyes of much use in helping +the creature to find its dinner? I think not. Most likely the Starfish +_smells_ its way. + +If we put the animal on its back in a rock-pool we shall see the +tube-feet at work. Once in the water our Starfish revives, and makes +efforts to right itself. Can it turn over and crawl away? + +The little tube-feet come out of their holes and begin to bend about. +Now those near the edge of one "arm" feel the ground. Each tiny sucker +at once takes hold, more and more of them touch the ground as the ray is +turned right side up, and at last the Starfish turns over, and, slowly +but surely, glides away. + +[Illustration: COMMON FIVE-FINGERED STARFISH.] + +Stones, shells, or rocks do not stop it. The rays slide up and over +them. If we had feet like those of the Starfish, a journey up the wall +of a house, over the roof, and down again, would be nothing to us. +Nature gives all creatures the kind of foot which suits the life they +lead. And it is hard to imagine feet more useful to the Starfish than +those wonderful sucker-feet! + +Ask any fisherman what he thinks of the "harmless" Starfish, and he will +call it a pest and a nuisance. "It gets into the crab traps," he says, +"and eats all the bait. And when we are line-fishing it sucks the bait +off our hooks, and sometimes swallows hook and all." Small wonder that +Five-fingers, or Five-fingered Jack, as it is called, has no friend +among fisher-folk. + +On pulling up a useless Starfish instead of a real fish, the fisherman +tears the offender in half and throws the halves back into the waves. By +doing this he harms himself more than the Starfish! Each half grows into +a perfect Starfish with five rays complete. We can say that each part of +this animal has a separate life, for each part can grow when torn away. + +If you were asked to open an oyster you would need tools, would you not? +Even with an oyster-knife it is not always an easy job. The oyster, +tight in his shelly fortress, seems safe from the attack of a weak +Starfish. Yet the Starfish opens and eats oysters as part of its +everyday life. + +Finding a nice fat oyster, it sets to work. The Starfish folds its rays +over its victim, with its mouth against the edge where the shells meet. +The tug-of-war begins. The Starfish's tube-feet try to pull the shells +apart; the oyster, with all its strength, tries to keep them shut. It is +stronger than its enemy, and yet the steady pull of hundreds of suckers +is more than it can stand, and the shells, after a time, begin to gape a +little. + +Now a strange thing happens. The mouth of the Starfish opens into a kind +of bag which slips between the oyster shells. The Starfish, as it were, +turns itself inside-out! It then eats the oyster and leaves the clean +shell. + +Mussels are smaller, so they are eaten in a different way. The Starfish +merely presses the mussel into its mouth, cleans out the shells, and +throws them away. Were we not right to call this wonderful mouth the +mouth of an ogre? + +Oysters, as you know, are so valuable that we rear them in special +"beds." Along comes the hungry Starfish, with thousands of its +relations, finding the fat oysters very good eating. They do great +damage in our oyster-fisheries, and it is one long battle between them +and the keepers of the "beds." + +Supporting the tough skin of Five-fingered Jack is a wonderful skeleton. +It is like a network of fine plates and rods made of lime. Perhaps you +have seen one in a museum. + +Five-fingers has a great number of cousins, some of them common enough +along our shores. One of the strangest is the Brittle Star. On first +seeing one of these animals I tried to capture it by holding its long, +wriggling arms. At once the arms broke off. Then I tried to scoop the +creature out of its watery home. But it began to break its "rays" off as +if they were of no value whatever. To my surprise, the broken "rays" +broke again while wriggling on the ground. This is a strange habit, is +it not? Perhaps the Brittle Star has found this dodge useful in escaping +from enemies. Anyhow, the loss of an arm or two matters little, for +others grow in their place. + +Another cousin of the Starfish is the Sea-urchin, a round prickly +creature rather like the burr of the sweet-chestnut tree. This mass of +prickles is not a vegetable; he is very much alive. Nature has given +many plants and animals these prickles, like fixed bayonets, for a +defence against their enemies. You will at once think of the gorse and +the hedgehog, or urchin, as some people call it. Our little Sea-urchin +has prickles, like the hedgehog, but he is really unlike any other +living creature, except, perhaps, the Starfish. + +If you were to roll up a Starfish into a ball, and then stick about +three thousand spines on the ball thus made, you would have a creature +looking rather like a Sea-urchin. + +Beneath the mass of spines there is a hard _test_ or shell, made of +plates joined closely together; this is the skeleton of the Sea-urchin. +Sometimes you find this strange shell on the seashore, rather dirty, and +not always sweet-smelling. You might also find Sea-urchins half-dead, +washed into the rock-pools. The shells are wonderful objects, so you +should clean them in fresh water; they are well worth the trouble of +taking home. + +All over the shell you will see little rounded knobs. These show where +the spines were fixed on; each spine fits into a hole in the shell, but +so loosely that it is able to move about. The Sea-urchin can walk by +moving its spines, tilting its body along from one place to another on +the bed of the sea. It can do much more than that. Like its cousin the +Starfish, it has numerous tube-feet, so you would not be surprised to +see this prickly ball walk up the face of a rock. + +The tube-feet, or sucker-feet, are fixed to the shell in much the same +way as the spines. They can be bent this way or that. If the Urchin is +on a rock he clings tightly with these sucker-feet; then, if he wishes +to move away, you will see the long thin tubes stretch out and bend +about. They fix themselves to the rock, and the animal is drawn along. + +[Illustration: TEST OR SHELL OF A SEA-URCHIN.] + +Besides these spines and suckers, the Sea-urchin owns another set of +tools. Scattered over it, among the spines, are many tiny rods tipped +with little teeth or pincers. You will not be able to see them, except +under a magnifying glass. Of what use are these strange little pincers +or rods? It is thought that the Urchin uses them in several ways. They +may help in capturing small prey, or they may be used when the creature +has to fight a larger enemy. They are also certainly of use as cleansing +tools. That is to say, they can pick off tiny scraps of weed or dirt +which settle on the animal's body. Some Starfishes also own pincers of +this sort, but they are not so perfect as those of the funny little +Urchin. We must not forget that all these spines, tube-feet, and pincers +are worked by a set of muscles. + +In the centre of the Urchin's shell is its mouth. The Starfish, we +found, had a terrible mouth, but that of the Urchin is worse still. Not +only is it of great size, but it is fitted with strong jaws and five +long, sharp teeth, You may see them poking out from the mouth of the +animal, and feel for yourself how hard they are. + +There is a great deal more to know about Five-fingers; and the +Sea-urchin still has his secrets which no one can explain. We have but +glanced at their story in this lesson; but you can see that the +Starfish, lying limp on the sands, is not so dull as it looks. + + +EXERCISES + +1. Where is the mouth of the Starfish placed? + +2. Describe how the Starfish moves. + +3. How does the Starfish feed on the oyster? + +4. Why is the _Brittle_ Star given that name? + +5. How do the Starfish and Sea-urchin keep themselves clean? + + + + +LESSON II. + + +A STROLL BY THE SEA. + +The sea and the land are always at war. When you are at the seaside, +with spade and bucket to make "castles" and "pies" of the sand, you can +see and hear the battle. + +A wave comes rolling smoothly on towards the shore. It reaches the land +and can go no further, and then, with a roar and a crash and splash of +sparkling foam, it breaks. It spreads into a sheet of foaming water, +and, after rushing as far as it can up the beach, it seethes back as the +next wave takes up the battle. + +What a grinding and tearing, as wave after wave is hurled at the land! +That is the battle-cry of the land and sea! Most of the pebbles and the +sand on the beach have been won from the land in the great fight. We +might call them the spoils of war. Once they formed part of the solid +land, the rock or cliff. Now they are loose fragments spread for mile +after mile round our coast. + +Every wave takes them up and has fine fun with them. Pebbles and sand +are picked up, swirled along, and thrown at the shore. They are sucked +back as the wave is broken by the land. And then the following wave +takes them, grinds them and scrubs them together. Thus they are jostled +hither and thither, up and down the coast; and, as a result of the long, +long fight, rocks and cliffs become pebbles, sand, or mud. + +Now if you look at the pebbles on the shore you see that many of them +are smooth and round. Some are as round as the "marbles" you play with. +No wonder, for the mighty sea has scoured them with sand and rolled them +for miles. + +As you know, the sea is not always at the same height. It falls and +rises. Twice in every day it _ebbs_ and _flows_; we call this movement +of the sea the _tides_. At low tide we can explore the very bed of the +ocean. We can visit the homes of the living, breathing animals, which, +at high tide, are hidden far under water. Between the high-water mark +and low-water mark is our hunting-place. There we shall find the +play-ground and feeding-ground of many a strange creature. + +Here is a stretch of sand, with little channels of water; there is a +patch of shingle mixed with numbers of tiny shells. The ebbing tide +leaves shallow pools in every hollow of the beach, and these pools are +often full of life. + +Shrimps dart away and disappear in the sand as if by magic. Small fish +and crabs hide from you as best they can. Helpless jelly-fish and +starfish sprawl on the wet sand. What are those thin ropes of sand +coiled up into little mounds? They remind us of "worm-casts." They are +thrown up by a sand-worm, called "lug-worm" by the fisherman. He brings +a spade and digs wherever he sees the sandy ropes of the "lug," for this +worm makes good fishing bait. + +Seagulls love to explore the shallow pools. You may see them walking +solemnly about, picking up stray morsels. If you see a screaming group +of them you can be sure that one has found an extra large prize, and the +others mean to share the feast. + +Let us walk down the beach towards the sea. Soon we find ourselves among +rocks. Now these rocks are the bare bed of the shore, stripped of all +covering. There is no mud, sand, or shingle, so here you see plainly the +work done by the restless water. On every side you notice rocks worn to +all shapes and sizes. Some jut out as sharp ledges. Others are flat +tables, covered with a table-cloth of sea-plants. These clothe the +rocks, or hang over the ledges like wet, shining green curtains. Nearly +every rock has its crust of barnacles and clumps of mussels. If we are +not careful we slip on the wet weeds, and get a ducking in the pools +which lie everywhere among the rocks. + +Here is the best place of all for sharp eyes to find the animals and +plants we seek. Where the hard rock has been worn down into hollows, the +falling tide leaves a pool of still, clear water. These rock-pools are +the home of many a creature. So let us look for them, until the rising +tide sweeps over the rocks once more, and drives us away. + +Sea-anemones and seaweeds brighten the pool with their various colours. +Pretty shells gleam here and there; and on the face of the rock there +are more limpets, barnacles and mussels than we can count. + +Where are the other living animals which we came to find? You will not +see them unless you hunt for them in the right way. It is a game of +"hide-and-seek." They are the "hiders"; and, as their lives often depend +on their skill in hiding, you cannot wonder that they know every trick +in the game. + +There may be crabs, fish, shrimps, and others in the pool. If you look +for a moment, and then walk to the next pool, your hunting will not have +much result. It is best to lie down and wait patiently, gazing into the +clear water of the pool. The little inhabitants are hidden in the dark +corners under the rock ledges, or buried under stones and sand; or they +may be hiding in those thick clumps of mussels--a favourite +lurking-place; or else tucked away in the friendly shelter of the +seaweed. + +Knowing their dodges, you will soon become clever at finding them. Some +seaside dwellers, such as prawns, are almost transparent in the water. +Others, like baby crabs, are green or brown like the weed in which they +hide. Even the sharp eyes of the seagulls must be deceived by this +trick. + +What a strange life they lead, these creatures of the shore! At times +they are deep under water, and they form part of the teeming life of the +ocean floor. + +Then the tide falls and uncovers them. They are in the full light of day +again, the sun shines on them. Most of them cannot escape to the sea, +and so must face the enemies which prowl along the shore looking for +prey. So, from one tide to the next, the rock-pool is like a prison +containing prisoners of the strangest sort. + +[Illustration: GULLS. 1. COMMON GULLS. 2. LESSER BLACK GULL. 3. GLAUCOUS +GULLS.] + + +EXERCISES + +1. How is the sand formed? + +2. Give the names of some of the animals to be found in the rock-pools. + +3. Where do these animals hide? + +4. Prawns and shore-crabs are not easily seen; why is this? + + + + +LESSON III. + + +BIRDS OF THE SHORE. + +On some parts of our coast we find steep cliffs, with the sea beating +wildly at their feet. Elsewhere there is a sloping beach of sand and +shingle with, perhaps, dark rocks showing at low tide. We explored such +a beach as that in our last lesson. There are long, long stretches of +sand and thin grass in other places, or else mile after mile of muddy, +dreary, salt marshes. + +Birds are to be found on every kind of coast. Some, like the Seagull, +wander far and wide. Others keep to the cliffs, and many find all they +need in the wide mud-flats. Such an army is there of these shore birds, +that we cannot even glance at them all in this lesson. So we will take a +few of them only--the Black-headed Gull, the Cormorant, the Ringed +Plover, the Oyster-catcher and the Redshank. + +Out of all the many kinds of Gulls, you know the Black-headed one best. +If you live in London you can see and hear him, for he and his cousins +have swarmed along the Thames of late years. They find food there, and +kind people enjoy feeding the screaming birds as they wheel in graceful +flight over the bridges and Embankment. + +The country boy, too, sees this Gull. He flies far inland, following the +plough, and he then rids the land of many a harmful grub. Because of +this habit, some people call him the Sea-crow. At all seaside places you +find him, and there he fights for his meals with the Herring Gull, the +Common Gull, the Kittiwake and others. + +Really we should call this gull the Brown-headed, not the Black-headed, +Gull; for the hood is more brown than black; and again, if you look for +this bird during your summer holidays, you will see no dark hood on his +head. You might, though, know him then by the red legs and bill, and the +white front-edging to his lovely pearly-grey wings. + +Look at him in January, however, and you see dark feathers beginning to +appear on his head. The fact is, this dark hood is the bird's wedding +dress. It comes only when the nesting season draws near. Then he leaves +the fields, parks, and rivers, to fly away to the nesting-place. + +These Gulls love to nest in colonies--that is, near one another. Among +rushes and reeds, and rough grass growing in deep wet mud, they feel +that their nests are safe. There they lay three eggs. The chicks, almost +as soon as they leave the eggs, can run about. If there is no dry land +near the nest, these youngsters tumble in the water and swim without +bothering about swimming lessons. + +In summer they are ready to fly with their parents round the coast, and +to the muddy mouths of large rivers, where they feed. Flocks of them are +also seen out in the open sea, feeding on the shoals of small fish. They +also follow steamers, for the sake of any scraps thrown overboard, and +they crowd round the fishing boats when they are being unloaded. You +see, they are _scavengers_, and so are to be found wherever there are +waste scraps of food. + +Perhaps you have noticed that Gulls float high in the sea, like so many +corks. They can leave the water easily, and take to flight; but they +_cannot_ dive. The Gull's dinner-table is the whole coast. His eyes are +keen enough, as you will know if you have watched him swoop down on a +piece of bread in mid-air, and catch it neatly in his beak. + +The flight of this Gull is beautiful, graceful, and easy. Sometimes he +wheels up and up into the blue sky, almost without moving a wing. He can +also glide for a great while, balancing his body against the wind, and +turning his head from side to side on the look-out for food. Those long, +pointed wings of his make him one of Nature's most perfect +flying-machines. His wild, laughing cry has given him the nickname of +Laughing Gull. + +In the fields and along the banks of our big rivers you may see the +Common Gull with numbers of his black-headed cousins. His beak and legs +and webbed feet are greenish yellow, and this is quite enough to +distinguish the two birds. Their habits are much the same. Both skim +over the sea, or the coast, looking for waste food. They are not very +"choice" in their meals; dead fish or live fish, young crabs, worms, +shell-fish or grubs they eat readily, as well as any offal thrown from +passing ships, or the refuse of the fish-market. + +One of these scavenging birds was seen to be carrying a long object, +like an eel, in its mouth. The bird was shot; and it was then discovered +that the "eel" was really a string of candles! The greedy Gull had +half-swallowed one, leaving the rest to hang down from its bill. The +Common Gull nests in "colonies," like the Black-headed Gull. Its nest is +made of seaweed, heather, and dried grass, in which it lays its three +greenish-brown eggs. + +Another bird to be seen along all parts of our coast, summer and winter +alike, is the Cormorant, usually with a small party of his friends. They +fly swiftly, one behind the other, and a long line of them reminds one +of the pictures of "sea-serpents," especially as they fly quite near the +surface of the sea, each one with its long neck outstretched. The Gull +flies beautifully, as if he knew his power, and loved to show how he can +skim and dive through the air. The Cormorant is not a flier, but a +swimmer and diver; he cannot "show off" in the air, and only uses his +narrow wings to take him, as quickly as may be, from one fishing-place +to another. + +Most of the Cormorant's time is spent in fishing, for he lives entirely +on fish, and catches immense numbers of them. He spends many hours, too, +in drying his wings. I once saw a number of these birds with their wings +"hung out to dry." Each one was perched on a stump of wood, across the +muddy mouth of a river, and each sooty-looking bird had his wings wide +open in the sun. This habit seems to show that the Cormorant uses his +wings, as well as his feet, in his frequent journeys under water. + +The powerful webbed feet of the Cormorant, set far back on the body, the +darting head, long neck, and long curved beak, tell you plainly how he +earns his meals. He is a clever fish-hunter, and the fishermen, knowing +the appetite of this keen rival of theirs, detest him and destroy him. +In some countries there is a price on his head--that is, so much money +is given for every Cormorant killed. + +Sometimes the Cormorant swims slowly along with his head under water, on +the watch for small fish. Seeing one below him, he dives like a flash, +and can remain under water for some time; he wastes very little time, +however, in swallowing his victim head first. + +The great skill of this bird has been made use of, and tame Cormorants +are used in China to obtain fish for their masters. They have been used +in England, too, for the same purpose. A strap is placed round the +bird's neck to prevent him from swallowing the catch. He is then set to +work. After catching five or six fish he is recalled by his master, and +made to disgorge his prey, which, of course, he has swallowed as far as +the strap will permit. + +The Cormorant is famous for his large appetite; he chases even big fish, +of a size to choke him, you would think. Like his relative the Pelican, +he owns a very elastic throat. I have seen a Pelican put a half-grown +duck in its pouch, without much trouble. The Cormorant could not perform +this feat, but his throat will stretch so as to allow the passage of +large fish. Small fish he usually tosses up in the air, catches them +neatly head first, and swallows them whole. + +Another bird of our coast is the Oyster-catcher, sometimes called the +"Sea-pie" or Mussel-picker. These names suit it well, for it does not +live on oysters, but on mussels, limpets and whelks. Of course, these +are easily "caught" at low tide; they are not easily eaten, so the +Sea-pie has to earn his dinner by hard work. In fact, his beak is often +notched by the sharp, hard edges of the shells of these molluscs; and at +times, he haunts the low banks of mud and ooze near the sea, and there +picks up worms and other soft-bodied animals. + +As his name Sea-pie shows, the Oyster-catcher is a black-and-white bird, +his under parts being white and upper parts black. His legs and long, +straight bill are red. Most birds of the waterside seem to find that +black-and-white feathers make a good disguise. Though they would show up +plainly on a green field, they are well hidden among the stones along +the edge of the water. + +The Sea-pie makes no nest, only a hole in the sand or shingle, lined +with small stones or shells. The eggs are coloured and marked so that +they are hard to see among the stones which surround them. The +youngsters wear a fluffy suit of grey, marked with dark streaks and +dots; and it takes very sharp eyes indeed to pick them out from the +shingle where they crouch. + +The Ringed Plover is another bird which loves the sandy, pebbly margin +of the sea. Have you ever watched him there? He is not much larger than +a plump lark, and he runs quickly along the beach, stooping now and +again to pick up the morsels of food which his keen eye detects. + +But, all the while, he is watching you with the other eye, for he is a +wary little bird, and not to be taken by surprise. _If_ you can get near +him, you will notice his rather long yellowish legs, greyish-brown back, +and, more than all, the white collar round his neck, and the black band +showing on his white chest. Again we see the black-and-white markings +which are so useful to the bird of the shore. + +Everyone who knows the Ringed Plover loves to watch him. He is one of +the daintiest, most fairy-like birds. When he is picking up worms and +sand-hoppers on the wet sand he is easily observed. But wait! He flies +off and settles on the shingle not far away. You walk nearer, to watch +him. Alas! he is gone. You know just where he settled, yet he is gone! +He has often played that trick on me. + +The secret lies in his grey, white-and-black markings. When our ships +were in danger from enemy submarines, our sailors painted them with +queer stripes and bars, to make it hard for the enemy to see them. +Nature has marked the Ringed Plover on the same plan. The feathers are +so coloured and the colours are so arranged that, once among the grey, +yellow, black, and white pebbles on the beach, the little bird is +invisible. It is as if the earth had swallowed him up. + +The eggs, too, are just as hard to find. There is no nest to "give the +game away"; and the eggs look just like the pebbles amongst which they +are laid. The young ones are protected from their enemies in the same +way, and they crouch, as still as death, amid the stones which they so +much resemble. + +Now let us leave the beach and look for the Redshank on the mud-flats. +Many birds would starve there, but the Redshank is quite happy, as +Nature has fitted him for his life in such a place. His long, red +legs--from which he gets his name--are for wading in the shallow, muddy +creeks he loves. Those wide-spreading feet keep him from sinking in the +mud. + +The long beak is for probing. As a rule the Redshank digs for his +dinner, though he also picks up any worms or other food on the surface; +but he is nearly always seen probing the mud. + +Like all the shore birds, Redshanks are very wary. They have no hedges +or trees for hiding-places, and so must always be on the watch. No +sooner does the Redshank spy you than he is up and, with a shrill +whistle of alarm, flies quickly away. + +The marshes are the home of many a bird like the Redshank. They are all +waders and diggers. They live much as he does, and so they have the long +beak and legs, and the spreading feet, to fit them for that life. + +We have now looked at a few sea birds, shore birds, and a marsh bird. +Many inland birds, too, are fond of the shore. The artful Jackdaw builds +in the cliffs, and his cousin, the Crow, searches the shore for food. +Even the gay Kingfisher has been seen diving in the seaside pools. + + +EXERCISES + +1. How do you know which is the Black-headed Gull in the summer months? + +2. Why is it difficult to see the Ringed Plover on the stones of the +shore? + +3. Where would you look for the eggs of the Ringed Plover and of the +Black-headed Gull? + +4. Why have marsh birds such long beaks? + + + + +LESSON IV. + + +CRABS. + +Little Crabs are to be found everywhere along the sea-shore--not the +monsters of the fishmonger's shop, but small greenish-brownish Crabs. +They live in the weed of the rock-pools, and in the wet sand. These are +the Shore Crabs; the large Edible Crabs are a different kind, and live +mostly in deep water. + +Shore Crabs are quarrelsome little creatures; the larger ones are always +ready to gobble up the smaller ones, or to snatch their food and run +away with it. If you put some dead mussels or fish in a pool, you will +be amused at their antics. How they scramble and fight! Crabs do not +believe in "table manners." + +[Illustration: THE REDSHANK.] + +[Illustration: THE CRAB.] + +It is their taste for waste scraps of food that makes crabs of use in +the sea. They are most useful scavengers. They clear the sea and beach +of dead matter which would poison the air and water. + +For many years nobody knew how Crabs grew up. It was thought that a baby +Crab was like its mother, just as a baby spider is a tiny picture of its +parent. But no, the young Crab is as much _like_ a Crab as a caterpillar +is like a butterfly. + +Let us begin at the beginning--the egg. Mother Crab carries her eggs +with her, under her tail, which itself is always kept tucked up under +her body. Out of each egg there comes the queerest little creature! It +is just large enough to be seen as it wriggles in the water. Then its +skin splits, and there appears a quaint thing with long feathery legs, a +big head, a spike on the back of its head, and another spike like a +nose. + +Who would suspect this strange atom would turn into a Crab! Well, nobody +did. It was called a _zoea_; but you can call it a Crab caterpillar or +larva. The maggot is the larva of the fly, and the zoea is the larva of +the Crab. With crowds of its brothers and sisters, the zoea kicks about +on the surface of the sea. Fishes, and even great whales, swallow these +tiny things by the million. + +The Crab larva eats and grows. Again and again its skin splits, and a +rather different zoea appears. This happens about once a week, until, +hey presto! the spiked zoea is now rather like a Crab. The spikes are +gone, and now it has tiny claws, and two eyes at the end of stalks. Yet +it still owns a tail. At last this is tucked up under its body, and lo! +our little friend has changed into a very small Crab. No longer able to +swim about, it comes to get a living in the shallow pools of the shore. + +Luckily, this helpless baby knows how to hide. He is helped by his +colour, for it matches the green and brown of the weeds and rocks. He +knows how to dig himself into the sand, and work his shell well down. +Then only his funny eyes on stalks peer up at you. At this time of his +life he has to "make himself scarce," and snatch his food when and where +he can. + +[Illustration: PURSE CRAB.] + +We do not eat these little Crabs, but other Crabs do, and so do +anemones, gulls, and other hungry creatures; and they themselves hunt +sand-hoppers, and eat anything they can find or steal. So they grow +bigger; and then, like the boy who grows quickly, the Crab finds his +shelly suit a size too small for him! + +Now look at his suit. It is a hard coat, a complete suit of armour to +protect his soft body. Our picture shows the Lobster, the Crab's cousin. +The Shrimp and Prawn and Lobster are relations of the Crab; these +_crustaceans_, as they are called, are all cased up in a hard _crust_, +which will not stretch the slightest little bit. But the Crab's body +_must_ grow! What is he to do? + +At first he starves himself, and so his body shrinks inside its old +shell. He loosens himself as well as he can. Soon the shell breaks +across, and the Crab struggles to get free. At last he backs out, and +leaves his old suit for ever. It is a wonderful performance, for he has +withdrawn even from the legs, claws, feelers, bristles, eye-stalks and +eyes! The old shell is left quite whole--a perfect Crab, but with no +Crab inside it! + +Now the Crab, in his new suit, hides away. He knows that he is a soft, +flabby creature at this time, and that other animals, even Mrs. Crab, +would be glad to meet him--and eat him. While his covering is yet soft +he grows quickly. When it is hard, he ventures out again, ready to +quarrel and fight. + +This change of shell happens often to young Crabs. Older ones change +only once a year. All the different kinds of Crab begin life as _larvae_ +or _zoeas_, and cast their shells as we have seen. + +Crabs can see and hear and smell; and they must also have a fine sense +of touch. I was once watching a big Crab eating his dinner under a rocky +ledge in a large glass tank. As he tore his food, some of the bits, no +larger than crumbs, fell and settled on the rocks below. Then I saw that +a smaller Crab, with long pincers, was hiding under a rock. As the +crumbs fell, he reached out his pincers and picked them up, one by one. +Each bit was gravely carried to his mouth, and tucked in, and then he +reached out for another. Though I was very close to the Crab, I could +hardly see the tiny scraps which he was able to pick up so easily. + +One of the strangest Crabs is the Hermit. You would think that Nature +had played a joke on him, for he has only half a suit of armour. His +tail part is soft. He would have a bad time in the sea, but for a dodge +he has learnt. + +The baby Hermit takes the empty home of a periwinkle. As he grows he +needs a larger house, and so leaves the tight shell and pops his tail +into a bigger one, generally a whelk shell. If he meets with another +Hermit there is a battle, one trying to steal the other's shell. Our +coloured picture, page 35, shows some Hermits at war. Fighting, +house-hunting, and moving house seem to be the Hermit's favourite +pursuits. But, whatever he does, his first care is to protect that soft +tail of his. His right claw is large and strong, so he uses it to close +the door of his stolen home. + +Sometimes he has a lodger who lives on the roof. This lodger, as you +will notice in our coloured picture, is the sea anemone. The Hermit and +his lodger seem to be good friends, at least they seem to like each +other's company. There is no doubt that there are good reasons for this. +We shall have more to say about this strange pair in our lesson on the +sea anemones. + +[Illustration: HERMIT CRAB IN WHELK'S SHELL.] + +Another funny Crab is the Spider Crab. Its back is covered with reddish +bristles, like so many hooks. These catch in the seaweed, and soon the +Spider Crab is decorated with bits of weed. But that is not all. The +artful Crab tears off other pieces of weed with its pincers, and +attaches them to the hooks. It is another dodge, of course, to escape +from enemies. The Lobster, whose picture you see, has a life-story much +like that of the Crab. He, also, grows too big for his suit of armour, +and casts it off in a wonderful manner, but only after a great deal of +trouble. In his new suit he is very weak and soft--an easy prey to the +first enemy to find him. He cannot defend himself then; he can only lie +helplessly on his side, waiting for his coat to harden. He is so weak +that his soft legs cannot bear the weight of his body. + +[Illustration: HERMIT CRABS FIGHTING.] + +Needless to say, the Lobster always finds a secure retreat before +casting off his protecting coat of armour. A hole under a rock suits him +well at that time. Strange to say, he seems to dislike his old clothes, +and often crunches them to pieces or eats them up, or even pushes them +under the sand or stones! Then he marches out like a proud warrior, +knowing his strength, and the power of his great claws. + +Lobsters are fond of fighting, and must be very disagreeable neighbours. +They can swim along by using the little "swimmerets" under their bodies. +Or, by rapidly bending down their powerful tails, Lobsters are able to +shoot backwards through the water at a great pace. In our next lesson we +shall find that Prawns are also able to paddle forwards or dart +backwards in a similar way. + +Lobsters, living and dead, are often on sale in the fishmonger's shop. +Like the Crabs and Prawns, they are usually caught in traps or pots, +baited with pieces of fish, and left among the rocks. The traps are of +various shapes, some being like bee-hives made of cane or wicker; others +are made of netting stretched over hoops, and more like a bird-cage in +shape. + +The Lobster smells the bait in the trap, and hastens to get to it by +diving through the only entrance. Having enjoyed his meal he tries to +swim away; but there is no escape, and there he must wait until the +owner of the trap makes his usual "round" in the morning. Of course, +there is a rope to every trap, and a cork to mark its position. + +[Illustration: HERMIT CRAB WITH SEA FLOWERS.] + +Then the Lobster finds himself taken carefully out of prison; his claws +are tied to prevent him from fighting, and he goes to market with a lot +of other Lobsters. There are many lobster fisheries along the rocky +parts of our coast. + +[Illustration: HERMIT CRAB WITH SEA FLOWERS.] + +You will often see Lobsters with one very large claw, and one small. +They are able to throw off a limb or two whenever they are frightened. +Also they often lose a claw in the terrible fights of which they seem so +fond. If one joint of a claw becomes injured the Lobster has no further +use for it; he is wise, for his very life depends on his armour. So he +throws it away, not at the wounded joint, but at the joint above. + +After a time a slight swelling appears on the stump thus made; this +gradually grows into a new limb. It may be smaller than the lost one, +but it is perfect in detail. What a useful gift this must be to an +animal like the Lobster, whose whole life is one terrible fight after +another! + +The baby Lobsters, like the baby Crabs, are quite unlike their parents. +They swim about at the surface of the sea, and already they seize every +chance of fighting and eating their small neighbours. + +When about one inch in length they leave this infants' school, and join +another at the bottom of the sea. Here they eat, fight, grow and change +their coats, just as the young Crabs do. They are now like their +parents. Sometimes they grow to be huge, and to weigh as much as +ten-and-a-half pounds. + +The mother Lobster carries as many as thirty thousand eggs under her +body! Needless to say, a very, very few of this enormous family survive +the dangers of the sea. The rule there is--"Eat and be eaten!". + + +EXERCISES + +1. What is a Crab larva like? + +2. Give the names of four crustaceans. + +3. Why does the Crab have to change its shell? + +4. Why does it hide away at that time? + +5. Of what use are Shore Crabs? + +6. How are Lobsters caught? + +[Illustration: THE LOBSTER.] + + + + +LESSON V. + + +SHRIMPS, PRAWNS AND BARNACLES. + +In nearly every shore-pool you may see Shrimps and Prawns darting out of +sight, and, for every one you see, there are many more hidden away. +These delicate, transparent, lively creatures are not much like the +boiled Shrimps and Prawns of the fish-shop. + +They are the prey of so many fish, crabs, and birds, that they have +learnt to "make themselves scarce." Have you ever watched them in a +glass tank, or aquarium? If so, you will know that it is not easy to see +them. In the shore-pools it is harder still. + +Some are swaying about in the still, clear water, moving their long +feelers from side to side. Others have burrowed into the sand. In doing +this, they raise a sandy cloud, which settles on them and hides them. To +catch some, you must use a "shrimp-net," for they can dart across the +pool like arrows. + +[Illustration: THE SHRIMP.] + +Some are Shrimps, and some are Prawns; how can we tell the difference? +When they are boiled the answer is easy. All the Shrimps turn brown and +the Prawns red. (The red "Shrimps" are near relations of the Prawn.) To +tell a live Shrimp from a Prawn, look at the long pointed beak which +juts out from the front of the head. That of the Prawn is toothed, like +a little saw. If the beak is quite smooth its wearer is a Shrimp. + +Until Prawns are grown up, they haunt the sandy shallows with their +cousins the Shrimps. But the larger Prawns live in deeper water. They +are generally caught in traps, as are their relatives, the crab and +lobster. + +Now look closely at a Prawn, and try to find how it swims. Turn it +upside down. It has ten legs; and, under each of the horny rings of its +body, you can see a pair of little paddles. They are fringed with hairs. +When the Prawn or Shrimp is not in a hurry, he swims slowly but surely +with the little paddles, or "swimmerets." If any danger threatens, he +uses his tail, in this way:--It is made of five fringed plates, which, +as you can see, spread out or close up, like a fan. As he doubles up his +body, the plates spread themselves out. They strike the water with great +force, and so send the Prawn or Shrimp quickly _backwards_. As the body +becomes straight again, the fan closes, ready for another stroke. To +move quickly, the Shrimp or Prawn merely bends his body, then +straightens it. The tail thus becomes a strong oar, driving him +backwards with rapid jerks. + +Look now at the Prawn's long, hair-like feelers. There are two pairs. On +one pair are the ears, a special kind of ear for hearing in water. + +You will notice that the Shrimp's eyes are on the end of short stalks. +Each big eye is really a cluster of little eyes, rather like the +"compound eyes" of insects. If you lift up the horny shield behind the +head, you see a row of what look like curly feathers. These are the +breathing gills. + +Shrimps carry their eggs about with them; no doubt you have often found +masses of eggs under the Shrimp's body. Each egg is fastened by a kind +of "glue," or else the rapid jerking of the mother Shrimp would soon +loosen the eggs and set them free. + +The hard, shelly covering of the Shrimp and Prawn is like the armour of +the crab--it will not stretch in the least. The body is easily bent, +owing to the soft hinges between the hard rings. But the coat itself +will not stretch. Then how do these little creatures grow? We see small +Shrimps and large ones, so grow they must, in some way. + +They are of the same family--the _crustacea_--as the crab; and they grow +in much the same way. The hard covering gets too tight for the body +inside it. Then it splits across the back. After much wriggling, the +Shrimp appears in a new soft skin. While the skin is still soft the +Shrimp grows very quickly. Crustaceans have a funny way of growing, have +they not? Instead of growing evenly, little by little, they grow by +"fits and starts," a great deal in a few hours and then not at all. + +Besides being good food for us, and for the fish, Shrimps and Prawns +have another use. They are scavengers. They pick to pieces and eat the +vegetable and animal stuff which floats in the sea. Before it can decay +and become poisonous, these useful creatures use it up as food. Great +numbers of Shrimps and Prawns are caught for our markets. Some are +caught by men who push a small net over the sands near shore, but most +are caught by the _shrimp-trawl_, a large net cast from a small sailing +vessel. + +The rocks, and the wooden piles of the pier, are often covered with the +hard shells known as Barnacles, or Acorn Shells. If you slip on them +with bare feet their sharp edges cut you. Each Acorn Shell is a little +house. Have you ever caught a glimpse of the animal living inside? + +If you will look very carefully, you will see that the Acorn Shell is +made of three-sided pieces, closely joined. There is a little door at +the top, kept tightly closed until the tide comes up and covers the +rocks. Then watch, and you will see a bunch of tiny feathers appear +through a slit in the door. This means that the animal is hungry, and +has put its twelve legs out of doors to catch a dinner! + +This is strange, but true! The Barnacle is always upside down in its +home, and its twelve feathery legs are thrust out of the door at the +top. They make a fine net, in which minute animals are caught and +brought into the mouth below. This funny creature actually kicks its +food into its mouth! If you own a magnifying glass, you can see this for +yourself at the seaside. + +You will not be able to see the mouth, however, which is inside the +shell. It is fitted with moving parts, and feelers, like the mouth of a +crab. Also, the Barnacle has a good set of teeth to grind its food. It +has no real eyes, having no use for them. Of what use are eyes to an +animal standing on its head in a small dark shell! Now and then it casts +its coat (like the Crab and Shrimp). The old coat is rolled up and +thrown away outside the door. + +Now comes the strangest thing of all. As a baby, the Barnacle is a free +swimming creature. It has three pairs of legs, a tail, a useful mouth, +and one eye. After kicking about in the sea for some time, and changing +its skin, it changes its shape entirely. It now looks more like a tiny +mussel. It has two little "shells," two eyes, legs, and feelers. Now its +swimming days are nearly over, and it must settle down. It gives up +eating, and roves about looking and feeling for a place to settle on. + +Finding a suitable spot, the little animal stands on its head. Then a +kind of glue is formed, which fixes it for life to that place, head +down. The two shells and the two eyes are now thrown off. The Barnacle +quickly builds up a shelly house, and, after a life of adventure and +change, becomes a fixed Barnacle for the rest of its days. + +For many years people knew little of this strange animal. All its +wonderful changes, and the way its body is made, tell us plainly that +the Barnacle is actually first cousin to the Crab, Lobster, Shrimp and +Prawn! It belongs to the class known as the _Crustacea_; but, for some +reason or other, it has chosen to live its grown-up life fixed to a +rock. + + +EXERCISES + +1. How does the Shrimp swim? + +2. Of what use are Shrimps and Prawns in the sea? + +3. How can you tell a live Shrimp from a live Prawn? + +4. How does the Barnacle obtain its food? + +5. Give the names of five crustaceans. + + + + +LESSON VI. + + +PLANTS OF THE SHORE. + +To pick a bunch of gay flowers you would look in the fields and +hedge-rows, and not by the sea. Flowers, as you know, love moist soil, +and not dry sand; and, like us, they prefer one food to another. Sand +they do not like, and salt is a poison to them. Both of these are +enemies to plant life. + +Also, flowers choose sheltered spots. They do not like rough winds, and +the glare of the sun shrivels them up. Yet there are plants with pretty +flowers to be found by the sea, and many others with small, dull +flowers. These seaside plants have to fight for their lives. The dry, +shifting sand, and the salt spray, are enough to kill them, you would +think. They have no shelter from the strong sea wind, nor from the +fierce glare of the summer sun. The puzzle is, how do they live among so +many enemies? For you know that the flowers of the field would at once +die if you planted them in salt and sand. They would starve to death. + +Even the strongest seaside plants shun that part of the beach washed by +the waves. They leave that to the seaweeds. + +Let us look first at some plants which have their home on the +sand-hills. Here is a fine one, like a thistle, with stiff prickly +leaves, and a stiff blue stem. In August it has blue-grey flowers. This +plant is called Sea Holly, its leaves being like those of the holly. It +has an unpleasant smell, yet its roots are used for making some kinds of +sweets. + +Now try to pull up a plant of Sea Holly. You find it no easy task. Then +dig away the sand, and you see that its large roots have gone deep and +far. All these plants of sandy places grow like that. Sand has no food +or drink to give to plants. So they send their roots out, like plants in +a desert, until they find what they want. Besides food and drink, they +need a firm anchor in the loose sand. The Sea Holly, with its roots deep +down and far-spreading, can hold its own, though the gale tears at it +and throws its sandy bed here and there. + +We pass many small creeping plants as we walk in the dry sand. There is +a pretty Sea Convolvulus, with its stems deeply buried. It is a cousin +of the common Bindweed. Then we see many plants of Thyme, and a few +ragged bushes of Gorse. We notice that several little plants grow near +the Gorse, as if they had crept there for shelter. The sea breeze has +blown the sand into heaps, and even on these dry, thirsty hillocks we +see many tufts of grass. + +[Illustration: 1. THE COMMON LOBSTER. 2. HERMIT CRAB.] + +These Couch Grasses and Dune Grasses, as they are often called, are +coarse and hard. Cattle pass them by in disgust. Yet they are the most +useful plants on the shore. They can live and spread where other plants +die. They have very long underground stems, which go through and through +the dry, loose sand. The wind does its best to bury them in sand, but +they send up hard, sharp buds, and go on living, and spreading. + +Bit by bit, the sand is held together by the matted stems of these +grasses. It becomes firm, instead of loose; the wind can no longer blow +it about. Then other plants can grow in that place. You know how men go +out to the wild parts of the earth and, by hard work, make those places +ready for others to settle there. Well, the sand-grass works like that. +It prepares the way for useful plants to grow in places where they could +not grow before. + +Quite near to the sea we shall find a very strange little plant. It has +no leaves, only fleshy, jointed stems. It is known as the Glass-wort, +being full of a substance useful in making glass. It belongs to a family +which seems to delight in deserts and salty soil! They have all sorts of +dodges to help them live in such places. For instance, their leaves are +fleshy. Squeeze them, and they are like wet, juicy fruit. + +The Sea Beet is also a member of this family. The Red Beet, as well as +the Mangel-wurzel, we owe to this humble seaside plant. Most of our +sugar comes from the Sugar-beet. + +Another useful plant is the Sea Cabbage, which grows on some parts of +our sea coast. It is rather a ragged, tough kind of Cabbage, and perhaps +you would not choose it for your dinner-table. We have more tempting +sorts in our gardens--Brussels Sprouts, Broccoli, Cauliflower, but long, +long ago the wild seaside cabbage was the only one growing. Men found it +to be eatable, and began to plant it near their huts or caves. From that +small beginning all our garden cabbages have come. + +Walking a little farther from the sea, we leave the sand and come to +stones, rocks and cliffs. We pass a pretty plant, the Sea Lavender, and +another, the Sea Stock. They love best the sandy, muddy parts of the +shore. Their lilac flowers look bright and pretty. Coming to the rocky +places, we find tufts of the flower known as Sea Pink or Thrift. Its +leaves are like grass, and its flowers form a round pink bundle at the +top of a bare stalk. + +There are many tufts of Thrift growing among the rocks; and each tuft +has a number of pink flowers. In some places you could step from one +tuft to another for several miles. Bare and ugly stretches of coast are +made into a gay garden by this lovely flower. + +Here and there on the rocks is a plant with large yellow blossoms--the +Yellow Horned Poppy. It is a handsome plant, and you are surprised to +see such fine flowers among dry shingle, sand, or rock; but the Horned +Poppy is well able to stand the salt spray and storms of its favourite +home. When the petals have dropped, a green seed-pod is left. It is very +long--nearly twice as long as this page and looks much more like a stem +than a seed-pod. + +Sometimes this seaside poppy is seen growing high up the face of the +cliff, where only the jackdaw and sea-birds can find a footing; and many +another plant may be seen there too. The cliffs are full of cracks, some +tiny and some wide. In these places there is always a certain amount of +dirt and grit. You could hardly call it "soil," and most plants would +starve if you planted them in such a place. + +[Illustration: SEA LILY.] + +These plants of the rock and cliff are not so proud. They have very long +and very thin roots, admirably suited to pierce the grit, and explore +the cracks in the rock, to find the moisture they need. Besides this, +they have fleshy leaves which help them to keep alive. The Stone-crop +and the Penny-wort are well-known plants of this kind. They grow where +you would least expect to find a living plant. Neither heat nor thirst +seems to kill them. Mother Nature has found many a wonderful way of +helping her children to live. + + +EXERCISES + +1. Why do plants which grow in sand have such long roots? + +2. In what way are the grasses growing on the sand so useful? + +3. Give the names of four flowering plants of the shore. + +4. Where would you look for the Stone-crop and Penny-wort? + +5. Why do these two plants have such thin roots? + + + + +LESSON VII. + + +FLOWER-LIKE ANIMALS. + +The prettiest of the creatures of the shore is the Sea Anemone. No one +can see it without being reminded of a flower, an Aster or Daisy, with a +thick stalk and many coloured petals; but, knowing how it is made, and +how it lives, we place it in the Animal Kingdom, though among the +lowliest members of that Kingdom. It is a cousin of that strange +creature, the Jelly-fish, which we shall look at in another lesson. + +[Illustration: SEA ANEMONE.] + +When the tide falls, you can walk among the rocks and pools by the sea, +and find Anemones in plenty. They are fixed to the rocks. Some are under +the ledges, out of sight, others are low down, half buried in the wet +sand; and others are on the sides of the rocks, looking like blobs of +green, brown, or red jelly. Feel one of them. It is slimy, and rather +firm, not so soft and yielding as the Jelly-fish. You cannot easily pull +it from the rocks without harming it; but you will find other Anemones +on stones and shells; and these you can put in a jar of sea-water, with +some weed, and carry home to examine later on. + +When covered with sea-water the ugly blobs of jelly open out like +beautiful flowers. In some places along our coast the floor of the sea +is like a flower garden, gay with thousands of coloured Anemones. + +Those little "petals" are really _tentacles_, used for catching and +holding food. We will use a shorter word and call them feelers. They are +set in circles round the top of the Anemone, and there are many of them. +The Daisy Anemone, for instance, has over seven hundred feelers. Each +feeler can be moved from side to side, and can also be tucked away, out +of sight and out of danger; but, when hungry, the animal spreads them +widely, for, as we shall see, they are the net in which it catches its +dinner. + +The whole body of the Anemone is like two bags, one hanging inside the +other. The space between the two bags is filled with water. The feelers +are hollow tubes which open out of this space; so they, too, are filled +with water. + +[Illustration: CRUSTACEA. + +1. THE LARVA OF A LEAF-BODIED CRUSTACEAN CALLED PHYLLOSOMA. + +2. A PRAWN-LIKE CREATURE, SHOWING THE FRONT LIMBS THAT ARE USED FOR +GRASPING PREY. + +3. A CRAB. + +4. THIS IS A SHRIMP-LIKE CREATURE CALLED CUMA SCORPIOIDES.] + +The Anemone can press the water into them, and so force them to open +out. In rather the same way you can expand the fingers of a glove by +forcing your breath into them. The Anemone, you see, can open or close +just as it pleases. + +What does it eat, and how does it find food? Perhaps you have watched an +open Anemone in a pool, or in a glass tank, and seen it at its meals. A +small creature swims near, and touches one of the feelers. Instead of +darting away, it appears to be held still; and then other feelers bend +towards it and hold the victim. Then they are all drawn to the centre of +the Anemone, carrying their prey with them; and the feelers, prey and +all, are tucked out of sight. + +That is the way the Anemone obtains its food. As soon as the feelers get +hold of a small animal they carry it to the opening of a tube in the +centre. This is the mouth, leading to the stomach. Very often the +feelers, with their victim, are tucked away into the stomach, and the +feelers do not appear again for some time. Is not this a strange way of +eating! + +Much stranger still is the way in which the food is held, and made so +helpless that it cannot escape. On the skin of the Anemone there are +many thousands of very tiny pockets, or cells. Each cell contains a fine +thread with a poisoned barb at the tip, The thread is packed away in the +cell, coiled up like the spring of a watch. As soon as anything presses +against the cells they shoot out their threads. Thus the tips of many +poisoned threads enter the skin of any soft animal which is unlucky +enough to touch an Anemone. + +If your own skin is tender, these little stinging hairs will irritate +it, but not enough to hurt you. It is different, however, with the small +creatures of the sea. They are made quite helpless when caught by +hundreds of these strange threads. We shall find similar poison-threads +in the Jelly-fish; and these, in some cases, can cause us serious +illness. You cannot see them without the aid of a microscope. + +All those parts of its food which the Anemone cannot digest, it throws +out again. If you feed an Anemone on raw meat, it tucks the pieces into +its mouth, and, some days after, throws out the hard part of the meat, +having taken all the "goodness" from it. + +No doubt the Anemones themselves are eaten by other animals in the sea, +but many kinds of fish will not touch them. You may remember that we +noticed an Anemone which lived on the stolen home of the Hermit Crab. +The crab lives in the whelk shell, and the Anemone lives on the roof, as +it were. In nearly every ocean, all over the world, these two partners +are found, using the same shell. It is thought that the Anemone lives +there for two good reasons. First, the Hermit moves from place to place; +you can see that this would give the Anemone a better chance of +obtaining food. Also, bits of food float to the Anemone when the crab is +picking his dinner to pieces. + +The crab seems to like having his strange partner with him. No doubt the +Anemone is of some use to him, or he would at once pull it off. It is +thought that the Anemone protects him from his enemies, the fish. Some +of them would swallow the whelk shell, crab and all, but they would not +eat one on which an Anemone was fixed. We are not _sure_ that these +reasons are the right ones. All we know for certain is, that a crab and +an Anemone have, for some good reasons, gone into partnership. + +Anemones have large families. Sometimes they have numbers of eggs; at +other times their little ones come straight into the world as very tiny +Anemones. A boy who kept a large Anemone in a tank of sea water, was +astonished to find that in a short time, he had not one, but hundreds, +of the creatures. The tiny Anemones were fixed to the glass and rock, +all fishing for food with their little outspread tentacles. Sometimes +the Anemone will calmly divide itself into two, each half becoming a +perfect Anemone! + +Anemones are of many shapes, sizes, and colours. The loveliest of our +British ones is the Plumose Anemone. It is like a carnation, and may +grow to be six inches high--that is, nearly as long as this page. It is +known by its shape, not by its colour. It may be any of these +colours--brown, deep green, pale orange, flesh colour, cream, bright +red, brick colour, lemon, or pure white. + +There are many other creatures in the sea which resemble plants and are +often mistaken for them. The Sea Lily (p.49) is one of the flower-like +animals; it is a relative of the Starfish, living in deep water. The Sea +Mat (p.59) is often found on the shore. It seems like a horny kind of +weed, but is really a colony of tiny animals, each one having its own +little cell to live in. + + +EXERCISES + +1. How does the Anemone expand its "feelers"? + +2. In what way does the Anemone catch the small animals on which it +feeds? + +3. Where is the mouth of the Anemone? + +4. In what way might the Anemone be of use to its partner, the hermit +crab? + + + + +LESSON VIII. + + +SEA-WEEDS AND SEA-GRASS + +We think of weeds as useless plants which insist on growing just where +they are not wanted. So it is a pity that _Sea-weeds_ are so named, for +the part they play in the sea is a useful one; and they are often +beautiful, though they do not bear flowers like so many plants of the +land. You see draggled heaps of them, lying on the shore where the waves +have thrown them. They are best seen in their proper home, buoyed up by +the water, and spreading out their broad coloured fronds, or long waving +threads. There are, in many places, meadows of Sea-grass, and forests of +Sea-weed! Mother Earth still has her carpet of green, even when covered +by the salt water. The plants are very unlike those of the land, but, as +you will see, they are of great use. We will suppose you put on a diving +dress. Then you can walk out, under the water, and explore the forests +of the sea. + +Down by the line of low tide, before you have waded up to your knees, +you find plants clinging to the rocks. They cover them with a slippery +coat of green; when you turn these Sea-weeds over you find periwinkles +and other animals feeding or hiding. Sea-weed makes good "cover" for the +creatures of the rock-pools, who have many enemies to fear. + +You notice that most of these shore weeds are green, sometimes as green +as young grass. Pull up a bunch of the weed, and you find that it clings +to the rocks and stones, but has no real roots. Seaweeds belong to a +humble family in the world of plants, having no real roots, no flowers, +and no real seeds. They can attach themselves to the stones or rocks. +Along comes a great wave, and perhaps they are torn up; but this does +not harm them, for they still live as they wash to and fro in the water, +until they cling to another rock. Or they are thrown on the shore to +die, or else to be washed back to sea by the next tide. + +[Illustration: SEA-WEED FROND.] + +The Sea Lettuce or Green Laver is a common seaweed near the shore. Its +broad, crinkled and bright green leaves are rather like those of a +lettuce. Sometimes it is boiled to a jelly and used for food. Many other +sea-weeds are good to eat, and on some coasts there is a regular +sea-weed harvest. + +Now wade into rather deeper water, and you find a great mass of the +Bladder Wrack. Most schoolboys know it, for the little bladders of air +in the leaves explode with a pop if you squeeze them. The Bladder Wrack, +and others of the same kind, are torn up by the fierce waves in a storm, +and tossed on the beach in heaps. They are gathered by the farmer who +knows how to value a cheap manure for his fields. Some kinds are also of +use in packing lobsters so that they come to market nice and fresh. + +When you have walked--in your diving dress--to deep water, you find +yourself among a tangle of olive-green weeds. They are below the line of +low tide. All round you is a forest of dark-green ribbons with wavy +edges. The ribbons are tough and very long, and cling tightly to the +rocks. These ribbon-weeds, and others of the same kind, are known as +Tangles. Round some parts of our coast they make wide, thick beds in the +sea. Though the ribbons may be six feet long, they are not so wide as +the palm of your hand. + +Another sea plant, which grows in tufts in rather deep water, is called +Irish Moss; it is green, brown or purple in colour. I do not know why it +should be called Irish Moss, for it is not a moss, and it grows all +round the English, as well as the Irish, sea-coast. But sea-weeds have +strange names; indeed, many of them have no everyday names at all. Irish +Moss is used for food, after being boiled to a jelly. It can also be +made into a gum or glue, and has often been so used. + +Now, if you were to walk still farther on the bed of the sea, into +deeper water, you would find the prettiest of all the sea plants. These +are the pink and red sea-weeds. You also find them on the beach, but +only after they have been torn from their home in the deep water. They +grow on the rocks, in pretty coloured tufts. + +If you dive still farther, into the dark depths of the sea, you find +beds of ooze and slime, and rocks and weird fishes, but no plants. Why +is this? Like the land-plants, these sea-plants must have _light_. They +cannot grow in the blackness of very deep water. Can you guess why some +sea-weeds are green and others red? Those growing in the shallow water +of the shore are green, like land-plants, because the sunlight reaches +them. Only part of the light can pass through deep water; and so, in +these shady places, the sea-weed is reddish in colour. + +[Illustration: SEA MAT.] + +We see, then, that (1) green sea-weed grows by the shore; (2) +brownish-green sea-weed likes deeper water; (3) red sea-weed grows in +deep water; and (4) in very deep water there is no weed at all. + +We must not forget the grass of the sea. It grows in narrow blades, +often a yard in length, and as wide as your thumb. It is not a sea-weed, +but a real flowering plant, which, for some reason or other, loves to +grow under water. It creeps in the sand and mud, with green leaves +growing up as thick as corn in a cornfield. + +All these waving green leaves make large meadows in the sea; and +sea-snails, fishes, and crabs hide in it, just as all manner of living +things hide in the grass of our meadows. The proper name of this strange +plant is Sea Wrack. When dried, it is useful for packing up china, and +covering flasks of oil. + +Now we come to the real use of sea plants. They are food for all the +hosts of small animals of the sea. These eat it as it grows; or else, +like the mussel and oyster, swallow the tiny scraps of it which float +everywhere like so much dust. + +The shell-fish, and other animals which feed on sea plants, are +themselves eaten by other sea creatures, and these in their turn are +eaten by crabs, lobsters and fish, which are eaten by us. It reminds you +of a chain. The first link in the chain is the sea plant, the last links +are the fish and ourselves. So, you see, the weeds and grass of the +ocean are of very great value indeed. + + +EXERCISES + +1. Give the names of three common Sea-weeds. + +2. What is the colour of the weed found in deep water? + +3. Why cannot Sea-weed grow in very deep water? + +4. In what way are sea plants most useful? + + + + +LESSON IX. + + +THE JELLY-FISH. + +Or all the queer children of Nature which live in the sea, the +Jelly-fish is one of the queerest. You often find it on the shore, +especially after a severe storm. There it lies, a mass of helpless +jelly, which slips and breaks through your fingers if you try to lift +it. + +It cannot move back to its watery home, and in a short time the sun's +warmth will have dried it up, leaving but a mark on the sand, and a few +scraps of animal matter; for these strange creatures are little else but +water. A Jelly-fish, which weighed two pounds when alive, would leave +less than the tenth part of one ounce when dried! + +There is a story of a farmer who, on seeing thousands and thousands of +Jelly-fish along the shore, thought he would make use of them. He +decided that they would serve as manure for his fields, and so save him +much money. He went home, and sent men with wagons to be loaded with the +Jelly-fish. This was done, and the Jelly-fish were spread over the soil. +On looking at his fields the next morning, the farmer was astonished to +find that every scrap of his new manure had vanished as if by magic! + +[Illustration: WEST PAN SAND BUOY. ONE OF THE MANY BUOYS AT THE MOUTH OF +THE THAMES.] + +In the sea the Jelly-fish looks like an umbrella of bluish-white jelly, +from which hang tassels and threads. Look over the side of a boat, or +from the pier, and you often see them drifting by, hundreds of them, +like so many ghosts. + +Each one is moving along, with its edges partly opening and shutting. It +is plain that this waving motion causes the creatures to move through +the water. Also, they can rise to the surface, or fall to the depths, +and do not collide with one another. So the Jelly-fish is not at all +helpless. + +At night Jelly-fishes sometimes look very beautiful. Each one shines in +the water, with a soft yet strong light, like fairy lamps afloat in the +sea. + +They are of all sizes. Some you could put in a small wineglass, others +measure nearly two feet across. Evidently the Jelly-fish grows, and, in +order to live and grow, it must eat; but what does it eat, and how does +it obtain its food? + +[Illustration: MEDUSA.] + +Before noticing the wonderful way in which this animal finds its dinner, +let us look at its body. In any large Jelly-fish you can see marks which +run from the centre of the body, and another mark round the edge of the +"umbrella." These are really tubes. They all join with a hollow space +inside the body, which is the creature's stomach. The mouth-tube opens +under the body, as can be seen by turning the Jelly-fish on its back, +and moving the lobes of jelly aside. All the food goes up this +tube-mouth, and so into the stomach of the animal. The whole creature is +little more than so many cells of sea-water, the walls of the cells +being a very thin, transparent kind of skin. + +Perhaps the strangest thing about it is the way in which it catches +prey. Jelly-fish feed on all kinds of tiny sea animals, such as baby +fish, and the young of crabs, shrimps, and prawns. These small creatures +form part of the usual dinner of many a hungry dweller in the sea, and +the Jelly-fish takes a share of them. + +[Illustration: A MEDUSOID.] + +From the edge of the "umbrella" there hangs a fringe of long, delicate +hairs, rather like spiders' threads. These are fishing lines, yet much +more deadly. They trail through the water, stretching far from the main +part of the Jelly-fish; and any small creature unlucky enough to touch +them is doomed. + +Down each one of these threads there are minute cells, hundreds and +hundreds to every thread; and in each cell there is a dart, coiled up +like the spring of a watch. The tip of the dart is barbed like a +fishhook. Now the cells are so made that they fly open when touched. The +dart then leaps out and buries itself in the skin of the animal which +touched the thread. Not only that, but the darts are poisoned, and soon +kill the small creatures which they pierce. + +You see now how this innocent-looking Jelly-fish gets its food. As it +swims along, the threads touch the tiny living things in the sea, the +darts pierce them and poison them. Of course these stinging darts are +very, very small, much too small for our eyes to see. + +Sometimes there are numbers of large brownish Jelly-fish in the sea, or +washed up on the shore. If you are paddling or swimming, keep well away +from them. Their poison darts are able to pierce through thin skin, and +may cause you illness and great pain. Remember that the threads are very +long; after you have passed the main body of the animal, you may still +be in danger from the trailing threads. + +We noticed these same poison darts when we were dealing with the +flower-like animals, the Anemones. Only, in that case, they were so +fine, so small, that they had no power to harm us, even though they +entered our skin. You may remember that we called the Anemone a cousin +of the Jelly-fish, for they both belong to the same lowly division of +the Animal Kingdom. + +Animals have queer ways of getting a living. Who would expect to find +millions of poisoned darts in a Jelly-fish? Who would guess that these +weapons are coiled up, ready to spring out at their prey? Men have made +many weapons for killing, from the bow-and-arrow to the torpedo, but +none of them is more wonderful than the weapon of the Jelly-fish. + + +EXERCISES + +1. Where is the mouth of the Jelly-fish placed? + +2. How does the Jelly-fish move through the water? + +3. What is the food of the Jelly-fish? + +4. How does it obtain its food? + +[Illustration: SHELLS. + +1. A FRESHWATER TURRET SHELL. + +2. EDIBLE MUSSEL. + +3. CONE SHELL. + +4. SWORD-BLADE RAZOR-SHELL. + +5. EAR SHELL, OR ORMER. + +6. A TOP SHELL. + +7. SCALLOP. + +8. SWAN MUSSEL.] + + + + +LESSON X. + + +SHELLS AND THEIR BUILDERS (1). + +THE PERIWINKLE, WHELK AND LIMPET. + +Most of the shells which you find scattered over the shore are empty. +The little animals which built them are gone; and their empty houses, of +wonderful shapes and colours, are all that you find. Let us look at the +builders of these pretty homes. + +The shell-builders have soft, juicy bodies, and they are put in one big +division of the animal kingdom--the _mollusca_, which only means +_soft-bodied_. Some of these molluscs do not build shells. But most of +them build a shelly house for themselves; they do this to defend their +soft bodies from the attacks of a host of enemies. Some build two +shells--the Oyster and Mussel do, as you know. These are called +_bi-valves_; that is, two valves or shells; and others, like the Garden +Snail, the Limpet, and Periwinkle, have one shell only, and so are +called _uni-valves_. + +The crab, and other _crustaceans_, also have a hard covering to their +soft bodies; but it is not at all like the shell of a Snail, or other +_mollusc_. The Snail's shell is like the little boy's suit which is +altered and made bigger as the boy grows. The crab's covering is a suit +which cannot be altered. It must be thrown away, and replaced by a +larger one. + +The body of the shell-builder is wrapped in a soft covering, a kind of +outer coat, which is called the _mantle_. Now this mantle is one of +Nature's cleverest inventions. It is able to take the substance called +_lime_ from the food of the animal, and to use it as building stuff. + +[Illustration: PRECIOUS WENTLETRAP.] + +The shell is built to fit the soft body. When a Periwinkle is hatched +from the egg, it is as big as a pin's head. It eats and grows, and the +shell must therefore be made larger. So the mantle is stretched out, and +it puts a film of lime to the edge of the shell. Bit by bit the shell is +thus added to by the wonderful mantle. Look at a snail's shell, and +notice the lines which show how many times the little house has been +made larger. + +Each kind of shell-builder has its own style of building. If you go to a +museum and examine the shells gathered from all over the world, you are +surprised at their wonderful shapes, markings and colours. Another +surprising thing is their size. Some are enormous, so large that they +make good washing-basins. Others are so small that you can hardly see +them. Each one was made by the folds of the mantle of the animal that +lived in it. + +In our coloured pictures you see many different kinds of shells, some of +them built by uni-valve molluscs and some by bi-valve molluscs. + +Wherever there are weeds along the shore you can find whole armies of +the Periwinkle--the "Winkle" we all know so well. It browses there, +among the weeds, just as its cousin, the land Snail, browses on your +cabbages. You must have seen the little door with which the Periwinkle +closes the entrance to his house. The land Snail does not own a door, +but he makes one when he goes to sleep for the winter. + +The Periwinkle crawls on a broad, slimy foot, which is put out from the +shell. It is stretched on this side or that, and so draws him and his +home in any direction. There are two sensitive feelers in front of his +head; and behind these are two short stalks, on each of which is a tiny +eye. If alarmed, the Periwinkle can shorten his body, and pull it back +into its shell, closing the entrance with the horny door. + +But the strangest part of him is the tongue. It is not for tasting, but +for rasping. It is like a long, narrow ribbon, on which are hundreds of +tiny points, all sloping backwards. They are arranged three in a row. +The Periwinkle rasps the seaweed with his tongue, and so scrapes off his +dinner. Of course the teeth wear away. + +[Illustration: COWRIES.] + +But only part of the toothed ribbon is used at a time, so there are +plenty of teeth behind the worn ones, ready to take their place. + +The shell, as we have seen, is made of _limestone_. But the teeth are +made _of flint_. This is a hard substance, so hard that it is used for +striking sparks. + +Now we will look at a shell-builder, the Whelk, who uses his flinty +tongue in quite another fashion. The Whelk does not care for a vegetable +dinner. He prefers to eat other molluscs--he is carnivorous, a +flesh-eater; but these other molluscs do not wait to be eaten. As the +enemy draws near they retire into their shells, and shut themselves up +as tight as they can. The Whelk, however, is a clever burglar; he knows +how to make a way into the hardest of shelly houses. + +His front part--we might call it a nose--will stretch out to a fine +point; and it contains a rasping tongue even harder than that of the +Periwinkle. He sets to work. Moving the rasp up and down, he drills a +neat round hole in the shell of the animal he is attacking. No shell is +safe from him; and no tool could make a neater hole. + +When you next gather shells on the beach, look at them closely; in some +you will see where Mr. Whelk, the burglar, has been at work. He needs +but a small entrance to enable him to suck out his helpless prey at his +ease. Is it not strange that this creature, with a body as soft as your +tongue, should earn its living by breaking into houses made of hard +shell! + +There are other molluscs which find their meals in this strange manner, +and many others which, like the Periwinkle, feed more easily on seaweed. +One of these, the Limpet, you can always be sure of finding at low tide; +indeed, there are so many Limpets on the rocks that it would be hard +_not_ to see them. You will know, if you have tried to force a Limpet +from its hold on the rock, how very tightly it clings. It is as if the +shell were glued or cemented by its edges. + +Yet there is no glue or cement used, but only a simple dodge. The Limpet +has a broad "foot," which almost fills up the opening of its shell. Like +the foot of the Snail, it is used when the animal wishes to take a walk; +but it serves another purpose too. It can be used as a sucker; and it is +this which enables the Limpet to cling so firmly to its rock. + +When the tide is out, the Limpet clings to the rock, its soft body +tucked safely away in the shell. Its feeding time comes when the water +covers the rocks once more. Then the Limpet's shell may be seen to tilt +up, and a foot, and a head with feelers and eyes, come out. The Limpet +crawls to the seaweed and begins to browse, using a rasp like that of +the Periwinkle. It then crawls back to its own place on the rock. In +time this resting-place becomes hollowed out, and the Limpet's shell +fits into the groove thus made. + +Limpets are useful as bait for fish. The Whelk and Periwinkle are +gathered in immense numbers, and are used by us for food. Perhaps you +have seen the egg-bundle of the Whelk. It contains many eggs when first +laid in the sea. Each egg is as big as a pin's head. They swell in the +water, until the yellowish bundle is three times as large as the Whelk +that laid it. You often see the empty bundle blown by the wind along the +shore. + + +EXERCISES + +1. Give the names of two bi-valve molluscs. + +2. What is the Periwinkle's shell made of? + +3. Describe how the Periwinkle eats seaweed. + +4. How does the Whelk obtain its food? + +5. Give the names of three one-shelled molluscs. + + + + +LESSON XI. + + +SHELLS AND THEIR BUILDERS (2) + +THE MUSSEL AND OYSTER. + +As everyone knows, the Mussel and the Oyster live between two hinged +shells. In the last lesson we called them _bi-valve molluscs_, which is +only another way of saying "soft-bodied animals with two shells." Have +you ever opened an Oyster? It is a tug-of-war, your skill and strength +against the muscles of the animal inside the tight shells. + +Like the Periwinkle and other shell-builders, these creatures owe their +strong houses to a wonderful _mantle_; but in this case the mantle is in +two pieces instead of one. You can imagine the Periwinkle's mantle as a +tube enclosing the animal's body. The mantle of the Mussel or the Oyster +is in two pieces; and each half forms its own shell. + +The Snail, and other one-shelled molluscs, poke their heads out of the +shell when feeding or moving. Oysters and their two-shelled cousins +cannot do this, for the simple reason that they have no heads! + +In some places you see that the rocks at low tide are covered with +Mussels. In dense black masses they cling to the rocks; and, though +heavy waves bang them like so many hammers, they stick tight. Little +Mussels and big ones, they form a mass so thick that baby crabs and +other creatures use them as a hiding-place. On the piers and groynes, +and the woodwork of the harbour, you can see other clusters of Mussels; +they are placed where the high tide covers them. + +Have you noticed how the Mussel anchors himself? He uses a bunch of +threads, like so many cables or tiny ropes. It is interesting to know +how these threads are made. + +The Mussel is, as a rule, a stay-at-home, but he can move from place to +place if he likes. He has a long, slender foot which can be pushed out +of the shells. Now the threads are fixed by the foot, just where the +Mussel wishes to anchor himself. They are made from a liquid which forms +in the body of the creature. This liquid hardens in the water so that it +can be pulled out into long, fine threads. + +Our ordinary Mussels do not make very long threads, but those of some +kinds are so long that they can be woven into silky purses or stockings. +The Mussel which makes such long anchor-threads might be called "the +silkworm of the sea." + +If the Mussel is such a stay-at-home, how does he find his food? The +answer is, that the food comes to him, brought by the ever-moving water. +There are countless specks floating in the sea, mostly specks of +vegetable stuff. These settle on the floor of the sea, just as dust +settles on our house-floors; and the waves wash this "sea-dust" hither +and thither. The Mussel or Oyster, with shells gaping wide open, is +bound to get some of this food with the water which enters the shells. + +The Oyster has no "foot," and is fixed in one place nearly all its life. +It is an interesting animal; and one of such value as food, that +hundreds of thousands of Oysters are reared in special "beds," and sent +to the market at the proper season. Our British Oysters were famous even +in the time of the Romans; they were carefully packed and sent to Rome, +and, at the Roman feasts, surprising quantities of them were eaten. + +Many sea-animals have wonderfully large families, but the Oyster, with +its millions and millions of eggs, beats most of them. Strangely enough, +its eggs are not sent into the sea at once, but are kept between the +Oyster's shells until they hatch. Needless to say, these babies are very +small indeed, else their nursery could not contain them all Though so +small that thousands of them together look more like a pinch of dust +than anything else, yet each one has two thin shells; so that, if you +eat the parent Oyster, they grate on your teeth like sand. Oysters, at +this time, are "out of season"--that is, unfit for food. + +At the right moment, the Oyster gets rid of its numerous family. It +opens its shells, then shuts them rapidly; and, each time this happens, +a cloud of young Oysters is puffed out like smoke. Now these mites must +fend for themselves in a sea full of foes. + +They have no defence, and countless numbers of them are gobbled up by +crabs, anemones, and others. If this did not happen, the sea would soon +be paved with Oysters. + +For a time, the baby Oysters--which are known as "spat"--are able to +swim here and there. In rough weather they are driven far into the deeps +of the ocean, and lost. The rest of them, before they have been free for +two days, settle on the bed of the sea--sometimes on their own parents; +and there they remain for life. Only a very few out of each million +become "grown-ups"--the rest are eaten by enemies, or smothered in mud +or sand. In a year or so they are as big as half-a-crown. In five years +they are fine, fat grown-up Oysters--that is to say, if they have not +been dredged up from their bed and sent to market. + +Their shells open and shut like a trap. You may have seen a picture of +an inquisitive mouse trapped by an Oyster. Thinking to have a nice taste +of Oyster, the mouse had poked its head into the open shells, but they +were snapped together, and the mouse was firmly held in the trap. + +Between the hinge of the two shells there is a pad, which acts like an +elastic spring, and forces the shells open. The Oyster can close them by +means of a strong muscle. They are its only defence, so it closes them +at the least hint of danger. + +Even these thick walls are sometimes of no avail, as we saw in our talk +on "Five-fingered Jack." We saw how the starfish forces the shells open +with the help of its strong tube-feet. The whelk and his cousins know +how to bore a hole in the shell, and suck out the helpless Oyster. Then +there are certain sponges, with the strange habit of making holes in +shells, and living in and on them. Sometimes the Oysters are stifled in +their "beds" by other Oysters settling and growing over them. Thick +masses of Mussels may cling to them and suffocate them. And grains of +sand sometimes get in the hinges of their shells, so that they cannot +close up the house when they wish. + +Like the other animals which are useful as food, Oysters have been +carefully studied and cultivated by man for many, many years. The story +of the Oyster-beds is a long and interesting one. + +Oysters feed in rather a strange way. You may have looked inside the +shells and seen two delicate dark-edged fringes, known as the "beard." +This fringe is the Oyster's gills or breathing arrangement. Trace the +"beard" as far as the hinge of the shells, and you see the mouth with +its white lips. If you could watch the creature having its dinner, you +would see a constant stream of water flowing over the gills and towards +the mouth. + +What makes the water move in that way? The gills are covered with very +tiny lashes, like little hairs. There are so many of them that, as they +keep moving, they force the water along, over the gills and towards the +mouth. In this way the Oyster breathes the air which is in the water; +but not only that. As we have already noticed, there is a kind of +"vegetable dust" in the sea. This is driven to the Oyster's mouth and +swallowed. The Oyster, fixed in its "bed," unable to hunt for food, thus +makes its dinner come to it. What a strange use for a "beard"! It not +only serves as lungs, but also helps the animal to catch its "daily +bread"! + +Another mollusc used as food is the Cockle, and its shell is one of the +commonest found along the shore, especially near sandy places. It lives +in sand, and can bury itself so quickly that you would have to use your +spade with all your might in order to keep pace with this little +shell-fish. Where Cockles have buried themselves you will see spurts of +water and sand, showing where they are busy down below in the wet sand. + +Besides being so skilful at digging, the Cockle is a first-rate jumper. +If left on the beach, it jumps over the sand, towards the sea, in the +funniest way. It is strange to see a quiet-looking shell suddenly take +to hopping and jumping like an acrobat. + +To perform this astonishing feat the Cockle makes use of its foot, which +is worked by very strong muscles. It is large and pointed, and bent: if +the Cockle wishes to move quickly, it stretches out its foot from +between the shells, as far as it will go. Then, by using all its power, +it leaps backwards or forwards in a surprising manner. + +There are many other interesting molluscs, besides those we have looked +at. The Piddock, or Pholas, is a smallish, rather delicate one, with a +soft foot. But this foot is a most wonderful boring tool, fitted with a +hard file. Hard rocks and wood are perforated by these little molluscs. +Indeed, they are a positive danger, for they pierce the wooden piles of +piers, and weaken them. They cannot pierce through iron, however, and so +iron plates or nails are used to protect the piles from their +onslaughts. You will often see stones and rocks riddled by the Piddock +as if they were as soft as cheese. Chalk, sandstone, or oak, it is all +the same to the Piddock, which rasps them away with its file. When the +points of this strange instrument are worn out with all this hard wear, +a new set takes their place. + + +EXERCISES + +1. How does the Mussel anchor itself? + +2. Describe how the shells of the Oyster are opened and closed. + +3. What is the food of the Mussel? + +4. Of what use is the "beard" of the Oyster? + +5. Why is the Oyster called a bi-valve? + +6. Why is the Oyster sometimes unfit for use as food? + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ON THE SEASHORE*** + + +******* This file should be named 10513.txt or 10513.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/5/1/10513 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. 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