selected localities, a nest was found in each, composed of a collection of delicate vegetable fibers, resting on the bottom of the trough and matted into an irregularly circular mass, somewhat depressed, and upward of an inch in diameter, the top being covered over with the same materials and having in the center a large hole. The fishes scarcely ever strayed from their nests, but were constantly on guard, defending or repairing them. They were perpetually prying into the hole at the top and thrusting their heads right into it. On one occasion, one of them entered by this hole, and slowly forced itself through the side of the nest. As it gradually moved onwards its body had a pecu

liar, lateral vibratile motion. They would frequently seize hold of the nest and give it a violent tug, shaking and tearing loose the vegetable matter of which it was composed; at other times they would carry to it in their mouths fine confervastems and press them with considerable force into the wall of the nest or thrust them into the hole, which by this means was partially concealed. Occasionally each was observed hovering over its nest with the head close to the orifice, the body being inclined upwards at an angle of about 45°, fanning it with the pectoral fins, aided by a lateral motion of the tail. This curious manœuvre was apparently for the purpose, so to speak, of ventilating the spawn, which could be distinctly seen through the orifice at the top; at least, by this means, a current of water was made to set in towards the nest, as was rendered perfectly evident by the agitation of particles of matter

attached to it. This fanning or ventilating process was repeated at short intervals during the day and every day until the spawn was hatched, to accomplish which took between two and three weeks.

Only one nest contained spawn; the other was torn in pieces and the materials scattered about, in the hope that we might have the pleasure of seeing it reconstructed. In this we were not disappointed; the fish immediately began to form a new nest in exactly the same spot, and by the following day it was more than half completed. It took a mouthful at a time and was at some pains in adjusting each load, spreading the materials out and pressing them down with its mouth; it then drew its body slowly over the whole, vibrating

all the time in the same peculiar manner as when it forced its way through the nest, as before stated.

On the 13th of June, the hole at the top of the fruitful nest was found to be much enlarged, so that the entire mass of spawn was exposed to view, and on looking attentively a few of the newly hatched fry were seen flitting around the wall of the nest. The assiduity of the parent was now greatly increased; it never left the spot; by night it rested either on the nest or by its side, and during the day nothing was allowed to approach. It fiercely seized a quill that was passed down toward the object of its solicitude with such vigour that the shock of attack was distinctly felt by the hand. Combats with its companions became more frequent, but its ire was chiefly directed toward its neighbour, which, like itself, was engaged in parental duties. This having also a nest to defend, never shrank from the conflict, and the encounters were therefore fierce and prolonged, but nevertheless conducted with all due caution and apparently with much science, as the gentlemen of the ring would express it. The sparring was very wary, and generally lasted a few seconds before the combatants closed. The attack was usually commenced by one quietly creeping up, watching its opportunity; on this, the other, acting on the defensive, would turn its broad side to the enemy, and raising the ventral spine wait to receive the onslaught; the assailant, intimidated by this formidable demonstration, would then slowly retreat, and in its turn had in the same manner to defend itself. After thus advancing and retreating for a few times, one, taking advantage of an unguarded moment, would rush in upon its opponent and butt at it with its head, apparently endeavoring to bite; the other, rallying, returned the compliment, and after dashing at each other in this way two or three times with extraordinary rapidity the round would terminate and each fish retreat to its nest, to recommence its more immediate nidimental duties. The fry were at first so minute and transparent that they could scarcely be discerned as they lay partially concealed amid the meshes of the nest; every now and then a slight fluttering motion betrayed their position, otherwise it was almost impossible to distinguish them. As I closely watched their motions at this time, one of the newly hatched fishlings, with intrepidity beyond its experience, ventured to pass the limits of its cradle: in an instant the watchful parent was there, and with gaping mouth seized the little wanderer, which immediately disappeared, the jaws having closed upon it. Seeing this I at once gave up the fry as lost, deeming that here was an instance of instinct at fault and that all the affectionate solicitude of the parent was to end in devouring its offspring. In this I was mistaken: the old fish, quietly returning, dropped the straggler into its nest lively and uninjured. During the whole of this day none of the fry were permitted to ramble beyond the precincts of their fold; when any attempted to do so—and many did attempt— they were invariably brought back in the mouth of the parent: none escaped its vigilant eye, and it was amusing to see with what a hurried, fluttering motion the little things dropped almost perpendicularly down into the nest, so soon as they were released from the jaws of the parent.

It was three days before all the eggs were hatched, and the attention of the parent during all this time was unremitting. On the second day I marked its manœuvres for five minutes and found that in this short period it ventilated the nest eight times, warded off an attack of the neighbouring fish, and brought back to the nest a straggler or two. During this day the spawn was frequently examined by the parent, who would occasionally seize hold of it and give it a good shake, apparently for the purpose of throwing off adherent matter, that the water might freely circulate about the eggs. The parent would then dive head

foremost into the nest and bring out a mouthful of mud, which it would carry to some distance and discharge with a puff.

The third day was passed in much the same manner, only as the eggs were now all hatched the nest was less frequently fanned or ventilated, and the fry, about 40 in number, were allowed greater liberty, the strongest being permitted to recreate themselves among the confervæ that grew on a stone about 2 inches from the nest. On the fourth day the fanning had ceased altogether, and the rambles of the young were less restricted. They were not yet, however, permitted to pass beyond certain limits. When any transgressed these bounds they were immediately seized as heretofore and carried back to the nest, into which they were always very glad to escape from the clutches of their ardent parent. Notwithstanding all her vigilance one contrived, on the fifth day, to escape her eye, and in passing the fateful boundary was immediately devoured by the other fish, which now seemed always on the watch, neglecting its own barren nest, being intent only on appropriating to itself the nestlings of its fruitful neighbour. In this act of cannibalism we see the reason for the parent's anxious care and its jealousness of its kind; and it is evident from Mr. Crookenden's account, previously quoted, that they greedily devour each others spawn. The young fry, however, have other enemies as well as their own species. One day a favorite Hydra (H. fusca) was observed to be distended in a most extraordinary manner. On examination it was found to have swallowed the head and shoulders of one of the young fish many times larger than itself, and the caudal extremity, which was too much for it and which was projecting out of its mouth, had been seized upon by another Hydra. Thus it would appear that these low organized but powerful and voracious animals occasionally regale themselves on the flesh of the Vertebrata. This happened when the fry were three or four weeks old.

All the old fish, with the exception of that with the young, were, in consequence of their cannibal propensities, turned out of the trough; and danger being thus removed, the fry were no longer restricted in their rambles, but enjoyed the whole range of their crystal abode. Henceforth the parent's assiduity gradually relaxed, though for days afterwards it was its custom to take the young occasionally into its mouth, and after carrying them a little distance to let them drop out again. I took one of the fry out one day for examination with the microscope. On returning it to the trough it was in so sickly a state as to be scarcely able to leave the vessel, which was held in the hand. The old fish, perceiving the helpless condition of its offspring, came up to the surface of the water, and seizing hold of the exhausted young one carried it off almost from amid my fingers, and taking it to some distance puffed it out of its mouth into a tuft of confervæ. This courageous act of our little fish would seem, in some measure, to give credence to the assertion, so frequently made, that some of the sharks protect their young by receiving them into the mouth on the approach of danger.

The stickleback's life is probably a short one. For a long time it was supposed to be biennial, but one individual at least was kept for "nearly double that time."

Such are the habits of the three-spined stickleback. Those of the other species of the family are similar in most respects, but each group of species seems to have its own special way of making its nest, as Coste long ago (1848) showed. According to the French naturalist, while the three-spined sticklebacks (Épinoches) invariably (invari

ablement) construct their nests on the ground and open to view; the many-spined sticklebacks (Épinochettes) on the contrary always attach theirs to vegetation, such as the leaves of aquatic plants. Coste considered this difference to be of importance enough to indicate generic distinction for the fishes making the nests, and consequently

he restricted the name Gasterosteus to the three-spined sticklebacks, and proposed Pungitius for the many-spined species."

*

*

a As the nomenclatural proposition has been universally overlooked, and the work in which it is published is inaccessible to most, Coste's own words, concluding the generalization, may be given: différence caracteristique qui parit justifier la séparation qu'on a faite de ces poissons en deux genres (Gasterosteus et Pungitius)." Pungitius thus anticipates Pygosteus.

SM 190536

Spinachia has also a characteristic habit of making a nest, using as a basis a frond of seaweed or some sea plant. The nests" occur most frequently among seaweeds fringing the tidal pools, and of such marginal reeds they are constructed," as has been indicated by Prince.

It has been generally forgotten that the nest of a Spinachia was first illustrated in 1843 by Robert Hamilton in his British Fishes (pl. 6).

Perhaps the fishes best and most generally known to the boys, and consequently the elder natives of eastern and middle America, are those most frequently called sunfishes or sunnies, but which also are misnamed in various localities bream, roach, and perch. Bream and its corrupt form, brim, are, indeed, in most common use in many places, especially in the Western States. These are the most gayly colored of a family designated by ichthyologists as Centrarchids, and with popular intent sometimes dubbed the Sunfish family. All have a compressed body, which is mostly expanded vertically and almost equally below and above the longitudinal axis of the body. The scales are mostly rather large or of moderate size, but in some (the black basses) rather small, and the lateral line is continuous. The head is scaly and in most the suboperculum is expanded backward in an ear-like flap. The nostrils are double. The roof of the mouth is dentigerous, the teeth being in some confined to the vomer, but in most extending on to the palatines and in some also to the pterygoids and the tongue. There are mostly six branchiostegal rays, very rarely