TEACHERS' LEAFLET NO. 21. 



A STUDY OF FISHES. 



H. D. REED. 



HE first forms of animal life which attract 

 the young naturalist's attention are 

 doubtless the birds. These are most 

 interesting- to him Ijecause of their 

 beautiful colors, their sweet songs and 

 the Q-V'dce with which tliev fly throujxh 

 the air. Ihit wlio has watched the fishe ; 

 in a brook or an acjuarium and is not 

 able to grant them a place, in beauty, 

 gi'ace, and delicate coloration, equal to the l)irds? To be sure fishes 

 cannot sino^, but there are so manv other int'erestino- facts in connec- 

 tion with their halnts and life-histories that it fully makes up for 

 their lack of voice. 



The Parts of a Fish. 



While observino; a livino- fish and admirino- its beauty, it will 

 probably occur to some of us that a fish consists only of a liead and 

 tail. But tliis is not all. Between tlie head and tail is a part tliat 

 we may call the trunk. It contains the digestiye and other organs. 

 There is no indication of a neck in a fish. Any such constriction 

 would destroy the reo^ular outline of the animal's body and tlius 

 retard the speed with which it nioyes through the water. But head, 

 trunk and tail are not all. There are attached to the outer side of 

 the fish's body certain appendages that are called fins. 



Before discussing some of the different kinds of fishes and their 

 habits, it will be necessary to learn something about tins, for the 

 fins of all fishes are not alike. When a fish moyes throuo^h the 

 water, it bends its tail first to one side and then to the other. This 

 undulatory movement, as it is called, pushes the fish's body ahead. 

 One can observe the movements easily upon a specimen kept alive 



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