414 



over nets as these were lifted. June 3, 191 1, many females with 

 eggs running, were seen in markets. 



PUMPKINSEED SUNFISH {BupOUWtis gibbosiis) 



A ripe female pumpkinseed was taken in the "Flag Pond" south 

 of Lynch Slough May 23, 1910. Eggs could be squeezed out in 

 clouds, and adhered to the glass sides of the aquarium. In Lynch 

 Slough, May 22, 191 1, a male and female in high color were seen to- 

 gether over a round opening on the bottom, among moss in 2 feet 

 of water. They went away and came back several times while we 

 watched. Examination of the bottom of the nest showed that no 

 eggs had yet been deposited. 



Largk-mouth P>i..\ck Bass (Micropferus saliiioidcs) 



Between April 26 and May 4, 191 1, more than thirty nests of this 

 species were found in an area of about twenty-fix-e acres in the north- 

 east end of Danhole's field. Most of the nests were in 10 to 15 inches 

 of water, but a few were found in water 2 feet deep, and some were 

 in water as shallow as 6 inches. This 25-acre area is thickly grown 

 up with flag and smartweed, among which is some bog-rush and a good 

 deal of filamentous alg?e {Cladophora). The nests are 12 to 18 inches 

 across, usually nearly round, and well exca\-ated, in most cases more 

 than two inches at the center, and the bottom of most nests is at least 

 partly formed of exposed grass roots, to which many of the eggs ad- 

 hered. Hatching went on continuously in these nests between April 

 29 and May 5, under a water temperature of 60° to 65° Fahr. If we 

 assume an incubation period of about fifteen days, the dates of spawn- 

 ing lay between April 15 and 20, when water temperatures 'stood be- 

 tween 58° and 60°. Eggs hatched in the laboratory April 28 had the 

 yolk sac absorbed by the evening of May i. The number of eggs in a 

 nest seems to run usually between 2000 and 3000, though in a few 

 cases the number was considerably higher. The males guarding the 

 nests were as a rule under two pounds in weight. In most of the 

 nests the percentage of fungused eggs was low, in some cases hardly 

 more than five per cent. A few nests were found in which nearh- all 

 the eggs were fungused. One nest, which we boxed over with a 

 cheese-cloth fry-retainer, contained more than a thousand active fry 

 3/16 inch long when we visited it May 6. The males are very timid, 

 and usually dart away like a flash before one can even get the nest 

 well in sight; but by using the greatest care to approach quietly we 



