When you arrive on the sand all will appear to be quiet. Your best plan is to sit still and wait for some signs of life. In a moment some clam may send a jet of water into the air near you. If you are quick enough with your shovel you may catch the joker, but he has had more practice in the game than you and will probably elude you. Watch for bubbles and jets of water and dig frantically. You will be able to work up speed after a few trials and land your "fish." After some practice you will be able to unearth many living things you little suspected of being there. Crabs of various kinds are common and sea-worms of rainbow colours and curious forms. Creatures in snail-like shells, little and big, are common in the sand of our coast. As you shovel away try to have presence of mind enough to throw the sand into your sieve. Take this to the water's edge and wash it. You will in this way get many small things which you otherwise would not see.
Do not discard anything about which you have an unanswered question. Many of the mollusks leave egg cases on the sand or these are washed in by the tides. They are no less wonderful than the shells, for they are chapters in the same story. The egg-cases of the whelk are common. Those of the skate are called "devil's pocket-books" by natives.
Muddy shores have their own special forms, while rocky coasts differ from all the rest. Some creatures, like the hermit crab, are abundant everywhere. You can read the story of this fellow in any book on shells. Take some of the stories about him with a grain of salt. He may not be as bad as he is painted for much of the gossip about him has never been proven. His affairs need investigation.
The creatures which build the shells are for the most part soft bodied and can not be preserved except in some liquid like alcohol or formalin. These would be difficult to transport but will be of greatest value if you are studying the structure of the mollusks. If you wish to preserve the shells only, you should take great care to free every part from any animal matter that adheres to them. Boiling the shell will usually accomplish this.
Labels should be used and record made of the locality, date, collector's name, and other interesting data. Every naturalist of any experience has the note-book habit. Many a collector who trusts to his memory finds himself sadly at a loss when he comes to work with his specimens and especially when he wants to write about them. If his note-book tells him the story he will be able to make his account accurate as well as interesting.
COLLECTING INSECTS
The two principal reasons for making insect collections are first, to study, second, to sell. The beginner's outfit will be the same whichever reason is his. Time was when any one carrying an insect net was looked on with a sort of pitying suspicion. He or she was thought to be the victim of a mild form of lunacy, which might or might not take violent shape. All that is past now that insect study has grown so important and popular. It is quite safe to conclude that the hundreds of trained scientists employed by the government to investigate the problems involving insect life all started their studies by making a collection.
Probably the easiest kind of collection to make is one of plants. Once you see them, their fate is sealed. Escape is impossible. But collecting wild plants about your own door yard and in the woods is tame work compared to insect capturing. Your eye marks a butterfly or a dragon fly for your own, but you have him yet to reckon with and his wings may carry him far beyond your reach.
The outfit necessary to an insect collector is simple and inexpensive. For general collecting, and that is the best for a beginner, you need:
1. A net.