Mr. Kinnear’s material was taken at a small slough four miles northeast of Caldwell. The slough had been dry all summer. It will be remembered that the drought of the summer of 1901 was very severe, but a spring a little distance from the edge still contained a little pool of water, perhaps three feet in diameter, although it had ceased to run into the slough. In this little pool of water a few small crayfish, about one inch in length, were noticed; while none of the small specimens were taken, they undoubtedly belong to the same species as the eight adults secured at the same place.
The specimens were secured in digging a well in the old spring. They had burrowed down through the loose surface soil for from six to thirty-six inches, depending upon whether the burrows were at the center or on the edge of the old basin of the spring. The burrows, which were about two inches in diameter, went down almost perpendicularly until they came to the surface of a stratum of Wellington shale. Here they were enlarged into almost round chambers, about ten inches in diameter and not more than three inches in height. The burrows were supplied with “chimneys” above. In these chambers the crayfish were found. They were not very active or pugnacious. The whole burrow was, of course, filled with water. The crayfish had burrowed down a little ways into the rather disintegrated shale. The excavations into the shale were conical, about four inches in diameter at the top and four inches deep. Mr. Kinnear thought that, as the shale was somewhat softened by the water, the crayfish had removed it bit by bit. There were about three or four of the main burrows coming from the upper surface terminating in the large chambers as described above. These chambers were then connected by passageways running from one to another.
Two of the specimens were taken August 1, and the other six August 25-27. Two were males and the other six females. All the females were, with one exception, well loaded with eggs, which appear, from an examination with a hand lens, to be in a very early stage of development, and have probably been only comparatively recently laid.
So far as reported, this species is confined to a narrow strip of territory running north for about eighty miles from the southern boundary of the state and drained by the Arkansas river.
3. Cambarus gracilis Bundy.
Specimens of this species are hard to obtain, and this doubtless accounts for its few localities. It is found in the territory drained by the Arkansas (1) as well as that drained by the Kansas river (2).
In August, 1901, I found an adult female of C. gracilis in a stagnant pond near Lawrence—the only time I have ever taken an adult specimen in open water during the summer.
4. Cambarus diogenes Girard.
Reported so far only from a limited territory along the Kansas and Missouri rivers, in the northeastern part of the state. As with C. gracilis, the difficulty of obtaining material probably accounts for the rarity of the reports on this species.