The statement that the Robber Crab climbs lofty trees was first made by the Dutch naturalist Rumphius, in the beginning of the eighteenth century. Its accuracy has been often doubted or denied since then, and only finally put beyond dispute by a photograph taken on Christmas Island by Dr. Andrews, which shows one of these Crabs in the act of descending the trunk of a sago-palm. It seems not impossible that the habits of the animal may vary to some extent in different localities, and that where food is abundant on the ground the tree-climbing habit may be in abeyance. If this were so, it would explain the very definite statements made by some observers, that _Birgus_ does _not_ climb trees. In localities where coconut palms abound, _Birgus_ feeds largely on the nuts, tearing off the fibrous outer husk and breaking open the shell by hammering with its powerful claws at one of the "eye-holes." According to Darwin in his "Naturalist's Voyage," the pincers of the penultimate pair of legs are used for extracting the contents of the nut, but this observation does not seem to have been confirmed. In spite of its name of "Coconut Crab," however, _Birgus_ by no means feeds exclusively on coconuts. On Christmas Island, where until recently there were no coconut palms, the Crabs are exceedingly abundant, and, according to Dr. Andrews, they "eat fruits, the pith of the sago-palm and the screw-pines, dead rats and other carrion, and any of their fellows that may have been injured.... They are excellent scavengers, and have a curious habit of often dragging their food long distances before attempting to eat it. I have seen a Crab laboriously pulling a bird's wing up the first inland cliff, half a mile or more from the camp whence it had stolen it." Large specimens of the Robber Crab may be at least a foot in length of body when the abdomen is straightened out. Their great strength is illustrated by the fact, related by Darwin, that specimens placed in a strong biscuit-tin, of which the lid was secured by wire, escaped by turning down the edges with their claws, and in doing so actually punched holes quite through the tin.