In the Little Brook 291 



up the brook in the spring, fresh as " coin just from the 

 mint," finny arms and legs wide spread, his gills moving, 

 his mouth opening and shutting rhythmically, his tail wide 

 spread, and ready for any sudden motion for which his 

 erratic little brain may give the order. The scales of the 

 sunfish shine with all sorts of scarlet, blue, green and pur- 

 ple and golden colors. There is a black spot on his head 

 which looks like an ear, and sometimes grows out in a long 

 black flap, which makes the imitation still closer. There are 

 many species of the sunfish, and there may be half a dozen 

 of them in the same brook, but that makes no difference; 

 for our purposes they are all one. 



They lie poised in the water, with all fins spread, strutting 

 like turkey-cocks, snapping at worms and little crustaceans 

 and insects whose only business in the brook is that the 

 fishes may eat them. When the time comes, the sunfish 

 makes its nest in the fine gravel, building it with some care — 

 for a fish. When the female has laid her eggs the male 

 stands guard until the eggs are hatched. His sharp teeth 

 and snappish ways, and the bigness of his appearance when 

 the fins are all displayed, keep the little fishes away. Some- 

 times, in his zeal, he snaps at a hook baited with a worm. 

 He then makes a fierce fight, and the boy who holds the 

 rod is sure that he has a real fish this time. But when the 

 sunfish is out of the water, strung on a willow rod, and 

 dried in the sun, the boy sees that a very little fish can make 

 a good deal of a fuss. 



When the sunfish goes, then the catfish will follow — " a 

 reckless, bullying set of rangers, with ever a lance at rest." 

 The catfish belongs to an ancient type not yet fully made 

 into a fish, and hence those whose paired fins are all prop- 

 erly fastened to the head, as his hinder limbs are not, hold 

 him in well-merited scorn. He has no scales and no bright 

 colors. His fins are small, and his head and mouth are 

 large. Around his mouth are eight long " smellers," fleshy 

 feelers, that he pushes out as he crawls along the bottom in 



