415 



were able in a few cases to get a good observation of the male over 

 the nest, guarding the eggs. 



Other observations on nesting bass in the vicinity of Havana, be- 

 tween May 3 and May i8, 191 1, were made at places and dates as 

 follows : 



Head of Flag Lake, Mav 3-6, ten nests, one with eggs near hatch- 

 ing, others with eggs mostly fnngused. Weed Prairie, May 4, one 

 nest ; eggs well advanced ; male seen on nest. West shore of Thomp- 

 son's Lake, ]//[ mile above Warner's Cut, May 16, two nests contain- 

 ing newly hatched fry; 2-lb. male seen guarding one nest. Weed 

 Prairie, Ma}^ 5-17? twelve nests. Samples of eggs, about 200 each 

 from several of these Weed Prairie nests, hatched with a loss of not 

 more than five per cent, from fungus. These nests were in 2^ to 

 3 feet of water — considerably deeper than that in the breeding 

 grounds at the head of Danhole's field (usually 10 to 15 in.) — and 

 contained a moderate quantity of living smartweed and algse. Eggs 

 in most of the nests in Weed Prairie had hatched by May 17, though 

 one nest found on this date contained eggs spawned hardly more than 

 24 hours. 



Observations on advanced fry and fingerlings were made on vari- 

 ous dates between May 17 and June 16, iQii, as follows:* 



Weed Prairie, May 17, 1911, one school of more than 1000, three 

 weeks old, largest nearly ^^ inch long ; one school of more than 2000, 

 24 days old; one school of more than 5CX)0, 21 days old. Fry be- 

 tween two and three weeks old swim in very close schools, in some 

 cases suggesting a swarm of bees. Their movement is ver}^ leisurely; 

 it is in fact almost impossible to stampede them. The level kept is 

 considerably below the surface, usually about two-thirds of the way 

 up from the bottom. Most of these schools were found along the 

 margins of the weed-filled breeding grounds — on which the water is 

 now rapidly falling — within easy reach of moderately deep water. 

 Weed Prairie, May 18, 191 1, two schools, aggregating about 6000, 

 y/i weeks old. Lynch Slough, May 22, 191 1, one school, several 

 thousand, about 35 days old. These probably hatched before the end 

 of the first week in April. Riley Smith's Marsh, May 23, 191 1, sev- 

 eral schools, 3 to 5 weeks old, at edges of marsh, in easv reach of 



*In these notes all estimates of the age of fry are based on comparison 

 with Reighard— Bull. Mich. Fish Comm., No. 7, in Sixteenth Report of State 

 Board of Fish Commissioners. 



