413 



Blue-gili. Sunfish {Lepomis pallidus) 



We found more than fifty nests of this species May i6, 191 1, on 

 the west side of Deep Slough, among live willow timber, in water i 

 foot to 18 inches deep. The nests were chiefly bunched about the 

 bases of the willows, in some cases as many as a dozen about one 

 tree, all in the shade, and many of them only 2 to 3 feet apart. This 

 fish seems particular to select about the same sort of situation for all 

 its nests, — a rather hard bottom of sand and mud, with little vegeta- 

 tion, but with some fine dead drift, grass, twigs, etc. The nests are 

 8 to 12 inches in diameter, usually (juite round, and the excavation 

 of the bottom soil is always well marked — usually to a depth of half 

 an inch or an inch. All contained eggs nearly ready to hatch or newly 

 hatched fry. The date of spawning was probablv between Mav i 

 and 5. The males are much more shy than males of the warmouth 

 bass, but they can easily be seen and identified on nests by approach- 

 ing quietly. Eggs taken to the laboratory hatched May 17, and by 

 May 22 the yolk sac was wholly absorbed and the fry were swimming 

 ■free in the aquarium. 



May 22, 191 1, we found twelve nests in Lynch vSlough in similar 

 situations, containing fry apparently 4 to 6 days old. May 26, 191 1, 

 we found about three dozen nests at the head of Liverpool Lake, 

 along the west shore, in water 3 feet deep, offshore and outside of 

 the "moss" zone, wholly unprotected by timber or vegetation. Some 

 contained fresh-laid eggs, and others were just built or still unfin- 

 ished, the progress of nest-building roiling the water in many places. 

 Late-spawning bluegills built nests along the east shore of the Illi- 

 nois River, less than a rod from the Biological Station, during the 

 second week in August, 191 1. 



KxamiuPtion of market specimens and catches from our own 

 nets furnished the following records bearing on breeding dates dur- 

 ing the seasons of 1910 and 191 1 : 



May 19, 19 10, one female with eggs running taken in Lynch 

 Slough. May 23 to 26, 1910, large numbers of females taken in 

 trammel-net in Deep and Lynch sloughs ; eggs maturing, but none 

 near ripe. June 30, ioto, females not yet having spawned taken in 

 Quiver ]\Tarshes, though, condition of market specimens indicated 

 that spawaiing was finished before June 10, except for scattered 

 stragglers. May 24, igii, though nesting had l^een going on ac- 

 tively for about two weeks, a good many females could be found in 

 the markets with ovaries still hard. Betw^een Mav 27 and ]nne 3, 

 19TT, several fi'^hermen reported that many females srpurted eggs 



