408 



F'ry were still in nests, attended by males, in Weed Prairie, April 

 28; and the use of a thirty-inch pipette showed a rich plankton of 

 small crustaceans in the very bottom of the nest. The most abundant 

 forms were Plcuroxus, Alona, and Chydorus, possibly attracted there 

 by decaying fungused eggs. On April 28, the temperature of the 

 water was 61° Fahr. The fry left these nests at some time between 

 May 4 and May 15. 



Older fry and fingerlings were seen or captured on various dates 

 between May 3 and May 23, 191 1. May 3, a school of 500 to 600 

 fry, y2 inch long, was seen at the head of Flag Lake. May 5, a 

 school of about 5cx> fry, ^ inch long, attended by a male 15 inches 

 long, was seen in very shallow water among dead flag, at the head 

 of Danhole's field. This male was not easily frightened, and moved 

 away very leisurely, stopping only fifteen feet away, in full sight of us. 

 These fry were probably considerably older than those in nests found 

 in Weed Prairie. They must have hatched soon after April first, 

 and were probably spawned soon after March 10, if not earlier. At 

 this age the young swim low, about half way between the surface 

 and bottom, in water 13/ to 2 feet deep, and if unattended by the 

 male they might easily be mistaken for tadpoles. 



Fingerlings 2 to 2]/\ inches long were taken May 22, 191 1, in 

 the head of Danhole's field, in weeds, in water only 6 inches deep, 

 and May 23, 191 1, in Quiver Marshes, 150 yards above the mouth 

 of the new dredge-ditch, in water of about the same depth, choked 

 with weeds. The last school, of about 200, was still attended by the 

 male. A dozen of these fingerlings were put into an aquarium in the 

 laboratory, where they devoured in one night more than fifty min- 

 nows >4 to ^ inch long. Fry, % inch long, from late-spawned 

 eggs, and probably only a week or ten days out of the nest, were 

 taken May 23, 191 1, in open water 18 inches deep, in a still pocket 

 opening from lower Quiver Creek. These fry were apparently un- 

 attended by a male, and were swimming just above the bottom. 



Buffalo (Ictiobus cyprincUa and /. Imhaliis) 



In 19 10 the condition of market specimens of both the red-mouth 

 and quillback buffalo indicated that these species had spawned as 

 early as April 15. May 15, 191 1, males of the red-mouth buffalo 

 kept several weeks in a crib belonging to the Havana Fishing Com- 

 pany, were spilling milt. There were no females in the crib, and 

 the spawning of the males had probably been retarded somewhat by 

 confinement. At Grafton, May 29, 1911, the condition of market 



