[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.