514 PARENTAL CARE AMONG FRESH-WATER FISHES. 



of Eupoinot'h gihhosus reared in one newt two broods laid at quite dif- 

 ferent times by two females.'' The relation between the sexes of the 

 sunfish, indeed, is analogous to that of Aniia which, Reighard thinks, 

 " may be described as a promiscuous polygamy." The female enters 

 or is led by her own impulse to the nest after more or less preliminary 

 play or courtship, deposits her eggs, and then departs or is driven 

 away. The male having fertilized the eggs redoubles his care. For 

 many minutes — it may even be for hours at a time — he may remain 

 poised near the middle of the nest, close above the eggs, watchful for 

 them and against intruders. If a rival approaches too near, he sal- 

 lies forth against him and drives him away. One may occasionally 

 fall a victim to his zeal if a larger fish, snake, or turtle assail him; 

 prudence nevertheless prevails and impossibilities are not attempted; 

 at a man's approach he flees into deep water, and as long as the man 

 manifests activity remains away, although reconnoitering ; if the 

 man remains inactive and perfectiy still, the fish may return and 

 settle over the nest again. Among the most dangerous enemies, how- 

 ever, are not the large but the small. The darters especially may 

 deserve their name I)y darting upon the eggs and bearing off those 

 dainties for a meal. By Dr. Reighard {in litt,) tlie ]>lackheaded 

 dace {Pimephales notatus) was found to be the most destructive to 

 sunfish eggs in Walnut Lake last summer (1905). 



John Godman, who was the earliest to publish observations on the 

 nests of sunfishes, and did so as early as 1829 or 1830, frequently in an 

 unsportsmanlike manner caught fishes from their nests by means of 

 a net. He could " always select the finest and largest of these fish,'' 

 and " such was their abundance that the next day would find all the 

 nests reoccupied." "Wliether the new-comers actually assumed the 

 role of nest guardians or nest assailants, was not demonstrated. 



For abouc a week, more or less — it depends on the temperature — 

 the male's attention is absorbed in the care of the eggs, which are 

 at last hatched. When the larval fry have appeared the parent con- 

 siders his work at an end and leaves the young to take care of them- 

 selves as they best may. According to Reighard, care of the eggs is 

 only " continued until they are hatched," while in the case of tlie 

 black basses it " may follow the young fish until they are well grown."' 



The prominence of the nests of sunfishes in the landscape of a place 

 is amusingly exemplified hy their utilization for forecasting the 

 weather by country wiseacres, according to Doctor Abbott, of Tren- 

 ton, N. J., who writes as follows: 



The old men of the neighborhood frequently speak of them in this connection 

 and undertake to forecast whether the coming summer will be wet or dry, from 

 the fact that their nests are sometimes in water a foot in depth, while at others 

 less than one-half this depth covers them. These wise old men of the village 

 sagely shake their heads when the facts are stated, and remark, if the nests 



