A CRAB IhTVrlSION.
AN interesting occllrrence, that should be placed
on record, lias been recently reported by Mr. L. S.
Foster of Xem Yorli, superinte~iderltof tlic Spanish
America11 clist,rict of tlle American ornithologists'
union. I t coi~sisted in tlie sudden appearance of
couritless ~nyriadsof yourig crabs on the seashore at
Cape Sail Antonio, tile ~ e s t e r nextreniity of the
Islalrd of Cuba, where it Tras observed by Fraxicisco
Baritista y Overies, keeper of t h e lighthouse a t t h a t
place. S ~ e c i r r ~ e n s tlle crabs v7ere sent to t h eof
U. S. natioilal riluseum by X r . Foster, accompaniecl
by the following extract from a letter by the liglit-
keeper, dated J u n e 14, 1883:-
"After the light of t h e liglltliouse had been ex-
ti~iguisliedin tlle inorniirg of April 3, 1885, me w r i ~ t
out on the gallery and saw at the edge of the sliore,
and at ixiterrals farther out, large and small f l o a l i ~ ~ g
patches, of a recldish color, of what appeared to be
wood, gulf-weed, or some other vegetable product of
tlie sea. T o our sulprist,, upon i t i s p e c t i ~ ~ gtlieiri nlore
c l ~ ~ s e l y ,we found these patches to cnrisist of sii~all
living and m o r i t ~ gbodies, beloi~ging to the crab-
family, beirig of tliat shape. I l~roceededt o iueasure
tlie piles t h a t were forn~iiigon t h e shore, and inally
of tlieln exceeded one axicl one-l~alfmetres i n size
[probably diameter]. A t eight o'cloclr in the rnor~i-
i n s , as rilore of the patches floated in shore, some of
t h e piles increased to two metres. This irrultitude of
insriiie animals came from the south-west, the wind
aiitl tide being from t h a t direction; and tlie same
p l i e ~ ~ o i i i e ~ i o nn'as repcated on April 9, and May 2 and
5. They approached the shore mostly d ~ ~ r i n gthe
night, the movement continuing, howerer, somewhat
into the early morning hours. They invaded the
houses and the yarcls, and the tower of tlie light-
house u p t o a certain height, so that we had to brush
them away with brooms and shovels, and finally to
close the doors and windows, ar.d cover the openings
of the water-tanlrs with canvas and sacking. We
lost three tanks of water corrupted by these little
creatures. After sunrise they were nearly all killed
by the heat, becoming whitish. A few that escaped
to the shade lived a few days without growing ally
larger."
Prof. S. I. Smith of Yale College, to whom the
specimens were referred, reports as follows respect-
ing them : -
" T h e very sinall crabs from Cape Sail Antonio,
Cuba, are too young and imperfect for precise deter-
mination, but are evidently the young, changed from
Ihe free-swinimir~gmegalops stage of some Grapsoid
crab, probably a species of Sesarma. T h e four spe-
cimens are evidently all of the same species. They
measure between four and five nlillimetres in width
of carapau." It. RATIIBUPI