Part III.] Pond Fish Culture. 97 



When from two to five days old the little fish are ytill in a 

 bunch, but rise near the surface of the water and spiead out 

 more and more. The old papa fish continues to swim over and 

 around the little baby fish or young fry, showing the utmost 

 solicitude for their welfare. The young fish continue to be- 

 come more active and restless and begin to move in certain 

 directions. The parent fish, as observed here at the Hatchery, 

 seems to herd the young fry and keep them near the shore, and 

 especially round them up in places where there are bunches of 

 aquatic plants, which not only furnish good feeding grounds, 

 but give a certain amount of protection to the youngsters. 

 When these small fish are a week old they show more and more 

 signs of restlessness ; they want to go somewhere, and one will 

 see the schools moving in irregular bunches, which in some in- 

 stances resemble small clouds in the water, shifting from one 

 place to another, the old parent fish continually standing guard 

 between them and the deeper water of the pond. The young 

 fish have begun active feeding now, and by watching one can 

 see them gathering particles of food as they pass through 

 bunches of loose spreading aquatic plants. 



They frequently come to or near the surface, gathering 

 minute and microscopic animals, which they swallow in great 

 numbers. From the time they are from one to two weeks old 

 they are constantly moving around, and instead of being in 

 compact masses they swim along the shore from place to place 

 in long strings, or bunches, ranging from a few to many feet in 

 length. At about this age the young fish begin to work out 

 and make excursions in the deeper water; one can frequently 

 see them five, ten or twenty-five feet from the shore. To herd, 

 guide and direct their movements now is more of a task than 

 even the vigilant parent bass can hope to perform. These 

 family bunches or schools, when about two or three weeks old, 

 begin to separate into smaller groups, and are, according to 

 nature's provision, able to take care of themselves ; at any rate, 

 about this time the old parent bass deserts them. While they 

 remain in schools for some time, the bunches get smaller and 

 smaller, and by the time the fish are an inch or more in length 

 they are well scattered and are frequently out of sight much of 

 the time in the deeper waters. 



From now on they can be observed occasionally, sometimes 

 swimming in small schools along the shore and sometimes 

 around bunches of water plants, such as lily pads and stone- 

 worts, where they can be seen feeding. This spring at various 

 times we noticed large schools of them in among the lily pads. 

 They would come up near the surface of the water and fre- 

 quently rest with their heads up against the lily pads, being 

 in bunches from a dozen to a hundred or more under a single 

 large lily leaf. As the fish grow older they become more active 

 and scatter more and more, so that by the first of July or 



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