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of the leaves and sediment, being sure that we dip from tlie, very 

 bottom. On looking over this mass of mnddy material we may iind 

 a fisli two or three inches long, witli very line scales, a black back, 

 a silvery l)elly and a bhickish or brown l)and on tlie side of the bodv 

 extending from the tip of the nose to the tail. This is tiie Black- 

 nosed Dace (Fig. 105). If specimens of this fish are caught very 

 early in the spring, one will be able to watch some interesting color 

 changes. As the spawning time approaches the dark band on the 

 sides and the fins chani>:e to a brio-lit crimson. Sometimes the 

 whole bodv mav be of this gaudy color. Durino; the summer the 

 lateral l)and becomes orange. As the season goes, the bright colors 

 o-raduallv fade until finally, in the fall and winter, the little black- 

 nose is again clothed in his more modest attire. A great nmny of 

 the fishes, and especially the larger ones, seek some deep pond or 

 pool in the stream at the approach of winter and remain near the 

 bottom. If the pond or stream is so deep that they do not become 

 chilled, they will remain active, swimming about and taking food 

 all winter. But when the stream is very shallow and the fishes feel 

 the cold, they settle down to the bottom, moving about very little 

 and taking little or no food. The carp collect in small numbers and 

 pass the winter in excavations that they make in the muddy bottom. 

 If the debris thrown up by the water across the marshy end of a 

 lake be raked over during the winter, one will probably find some 

 of the smaller catfishes spending the season in a semi-dormant 

 state. 



Some interesting experiments may be tried with the fishes in the 

 aquarium jar. Keep tlieni for a few days where it is cold and then 

 brino; them into a warmer room and note the difference in their 

 activity. 



The Common Catfish or Bullhead. 



This sleepy old fellow differs in many respects from most of our 

 common fisjies. He has no scales. About the mouth are eight long 

 whisker-like appendages, called barbels (Fig. 100). Perhaps he is 

 called catfish because he has whiskers about his mouth like a cat. 

 Anyone who has ever taken a catfish from the hook probably knows 



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