N'ofc's and Oucrics. 



399 



will find large broods of youno- catfish as 

 big as three-fourths of an inch in length 

 remaining together in schools, each 

 school accompanied by the male. Some- 

 times the latter will swim slowly along 

 in the centre of the young ones and at 

 other times alongside. 



In laying their eggs, the parent cat- 

 fishes select a spot where the water is 

 quiet, if possible, protected by aquatic 

 plants, and there they make a nest, 

 perhaps eight inches by six, including 

 the spawn. 



The nest has a soft outer envelope. 



But this method is not confined to 

 the catfishes. There are found in Af- 

 rica and South Africa a species which 

 resemble the sunfish of our own streams. 

 These " cichlids," as they are called, are 

 also plentiful in Texas and Palestine. 

 They are often found with their cheeks 

 fairl}- bulging with young. 



In the Sea of Galilee the cichlids are 

 so nvimerous that the miraculous catch 

 of the time when St. Peter fished there 

 might be repeated any day, it being 

 the manner of these fishes to move 

 about on the top of the water in solid 



A LEAPING SHARK 



and over it the male hovers, forcing 

 fresh water through the mass of rapid 

 vibrations of his fins, until after about 

 a week they are hatched. 



Sometimes the male catfish takes 

 care of its }^oung in a still more pecu- 

 liar manner. There is a kind found in 

 the sea, the eggs laid by them are as 

 large as a small bullet. These eggs are 

 found in the mouths of the male, which 

 do this to protect them. 



After the eggs are laid, the parent 

 catfish takes them into his mouth and 

 keeps them there until they are hatched, 

 when they go out and take care of 

 themselves. 



masses, covering many square yards 

 and making a noise like that of rain 

 pouring. 



A LEAPING SHARK. 



During our recent visit to Catalina 

 Island on the coast of California, Vix. J. 

 A. Graves presented us with an admira- 

 ble photograph of a shark, with the 

 mteresting information that when 

 hooked, this shark invariably leaped 

 from the water from three to ten times, 

 not in the manner of the tarpon and 

 other acrobatic fish when under the 

 restraint of the line, straight into the 

 air, but with a graceful leap five to 



