Animals of the Mississippi Bottoms near Qnincij. 147 



exposed. Youug a few inches in length are caught by the 

 hundred at times for trot line bait, their desirable quality for 

 this purpose being an extreme hardiness when on the hook. 



Localities: Ballard Slough, Harkness Slough, Bear Creek, 

 rioose Lake, Dead Man's Slough, Moss Lake, Willow Slough, 

 Long Lake, Broad Lake. 



Family Lepidosteid.^. (Gars.) 



Short-nosed Gar {Lepidostetis plati/stomus, Raf.) 



Young examples from 8 to 12 inches long were very com- 

 mon in some of the lakes and sloughs, and were seen frequent- 

 ly lurking about barges and fish boats in the bay. No large 

 examples were seen. They are quite sportive at times, and 

 keep up a constant splashing of the water as a skiff moves 

 among them. Hundreds were seen at the south end of Long 

 Lake. They were lying just beneath the surface, fanning the 

 water with the fins sufficiently to keep the body stationary, and 

 when approached would suddenly lash the tail out of water and 

 disappear. The young of this gar averaged considerably larger 

 than those of the other species and were more uniform in size. 

 Eighteen examples taken at random from different situations 

 average 9.94 inches in length from tip of snout to tip of caudal 

 fin. With two exceptions all those seen had lost the caudal 

 filament, and also, to a great extent, the black blotches of the 

 very young. Those which possessed the filament were two of 

 the three smallest examples taken, and measured respectively 8 

 and 8.50 inches in length. The largest examples seen measur- 

 ed 12.50 inches. If these young are from the eggs spawned 

 this season, and I believe they are, they indicate a more rapid 

 growth, or an earlier spawning time for this species than for L. 

 osseiis. 



Localities: Harkness Slough, Goose Lake, Dead Man's 

 Slough, Glaus Lake, Quincy Bay, mouth of Cedar Creek, Wood 

 Slough. 



Long-nosed Gak {Lepidosteus osseus, Linn.) 



The young were more abundant and more generally dis- 

 tributed than those of the preceding species. Thirty-eight ex- 

 amples give an average length of 8.10 inches. The smallest 

 3 



