Sept.] MISCELLANEOUS. 375 



(Gasterosteus), of which there are several varieties, is hardly a 

 fish for the general collection ; although of exquisite form, it is 

 so fierce, especially in the breeding season, that it incessantly at- 

 tacks the other fishes in the aquarium, and in a short time de- 

 prives them of more or less of their tails, making the unfortunate 

 victims literally top-heavy, swimming with their tails, or rather 

 what were once tails, much higher than their heads. 



Sticklebacks should have a tank devoted exclusely to them, 

 and this especially if we wish them to build a nest, one of their 

 peculiar accomplishments. Early in the spring the sticklebacks 

 may be found in great numbers in the small ditches which drain 

 the salt-water marshes. The male is easily distinguished from 

 the female by its deep red color around the gills and its blue eyes, 

 while the female has only the silvery scales. A pair taken at 

 random usually live peaceably together; if it is in the right sea- 

 son they will soon look about for materials for a nest, taking 

 bits of water-plants, and even coming to the surface for small 

 pieces of straw and sticks ; with such materials they build a 

 round nest about as large as a small English walnut, hollow in 

 the centre, and having two holes large enough to admit the fish 

 on either side ; the nest is built upon the branches of some of the 

 water-plants. While the female is laying the eggs, the male acts 

 as guard, fiercely driving away anything coming within a certain 

 radius of the nets. When the eggs are laid they resemble small 

 globules of wet sago more than anything else. The female will 

 be seen to fan these eggs quite often with her fins ; this is prob- 

 ably to give them fresh water and to prevent any sediment col- 

 lecting upon them. After a fortnight or so, instead of eggs, we 

 see in dilFerent parts of the tank what at first look like very 

 minute gold spangles as large as the head of a small pin. On 

 closer examination we find that they are the eyes of a very small 

 fish. Their growth is so slow that in order to preserve them it 

 will be well to remove them to a small tank by themselves, where 

 they can be fed by placing a piece of raw beef on the end of a 

 string, and hanging it over the edge of the tank into the water 

 until it is turned white, when another piece can be introduced. — 

 The stickleback, as also the minnow, is easily accustomed to fresh 

 water by freshening the salt water gradually until it is quite fresh 

 and then introducing the fish into the tank. The stickleback is 

 not the only fresh-water nest-building fisb. Wood mentions a 

 curious fish, found in tropical America, called by the natives the 



