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find that you really liave a fish. It is a beautiful creature, too, — - 



tliin flat body shaped something like the seed of a pumpkin. His 



back is an olive green delicately shaded with blue. His sides are 



spotted with orange, while his belly is a bright yellow. His cheeks 



are orange-color streaked with wavy lines of blue. J ust behind his 



eye on his " ear-ilap " a bright scarlet spot. This is the common 



Sun-Jish or Piunpkui Seed (Fig. 107). He is a very beautiful, 



aristocratic little fellow, " looking like a 



brilliant coin fresh from the mint." 



Keep him alive in an aquarium jar 



with a shiner. Compare the two fishes 



as to the size and shape of their bodies 



and fins. Feed them different kinds of 



food, such as worms, insects and crackers, 



and try tu discover which they like best 



and how they eat. 



The sun-fishes prefer quiet waters- 



They lay their eggs in the spring of the 



ion.— The common Su)i-fs7i or year. The female selects a spot near the 

 Pumpkin-seed. 



banks oi the stream or pond where the 



water is very shallow and contains an abundance of water plants. 



Here she clears a circular area about a foot in diameter. After 



making an excavation of three inches or more in the gravel or sand 



the nest is completed. The eggs are then deposited in the basin-like 



excavation. She watches her nest and eggs with great diligence, 



driving away other fishes that chance to come near. 



The Black Basses. 



The black basses are not usually found in small streams where it 

 is most pleasant for teachers and pupils to fish. They are fishes 

 which seek the rivers and lakes. There are two kinds of black bass, 

 the Large-moiithed and the Binall-mouthed. As the name indicates, 

 the two may be distinguished by the size of the mouth. In the 

 large-mouthed black bass, the uj)per jaw extends to a point behind 

 the eye, while in the small-mouthed species it extends to a point 

 just below the middle of the eye (Fig. 108). 



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