133 



A few scattering notes in connection with the sub- 

 ject of bass propagation may be of interest, and, there- 

 fore, are submitted. 



In the Thornapple River the beds are made along 

 the shores in from one to three feet of water, and where 

 the current is very moderate — never in rapid water. 

 A circular ridge of sand and gravel is thrown up and 

 the bottom of the hollow thus formed — always of gravel 

 and pebbles or small cobble stones — is swept bright and 

 clean. This work is almost invariably done b}' the 

 male, though in a few instances the female was present 

 — which is not usual — and was seen to render some 

 assistance; but this occnrs only when the female is 

 under great stress of haste to spawn. In such cases 

 the preparation of the beds had been delayed too long; 

 or they may have been driven from their own beds, duly 

 prepared, by a pair whose bed had likewise been usurped. 

 Mr. Dwight Lydell, who is in charge of the bass 

 work dnring the spawning season, and a careful and 

 intelligent observer, was recently an e3^e witness to an 

 incident of this nature. While watching a pair of bass 

 going through the preliminary manoeuvring that pre- 

 cedes the actual spawning, another pair approached 

 the bed with the evident intention of appropriating it. 

 The males at once began a fight that grew quite furious 

 at times, and lasted about an hour. The females took 

 no part, but rushed about in great apparent distress. 

 The rightful owner of the bed, although much the 

 smaller, proved the victor, for the would-be usurpers 

 finally dropped down stream about ten feet and imme- 

 diately commenced to whip out a bed of their owm. 

 They worked rapidly and in forty minutes the bed was 

 ready. Then, after a few moments of sexual sparring, 

 the spawning was begun and completed in five or six 

 minutes. Meantime, the other pair resumed business 

 and in forty-five minutes had completed preliminaries 

 and finished spawning. 



