54 REPOET OF COMMISSIONER OF FISH AND FISHERIES. 



back and forth around her. She moved away from the nest after a 

 while, visithig" some nests in the vicinity that probably contained the 

 eggs of other trout, but soon returned to her own nest. The male at- 

 tended her very closely, and, as they returned to the nest, resting for a 

 second near her, lie curved his body slightly, bent the dorsal fin to one 

 side, and with his body strained to rigidity, a slight tremor was ob- 

 served, and he again moved away. About once in ten minutes the flut- 

 tering occurred on the part of the female ; a little cloud of sand was 

 stirred up, but I looked a long time in vain for an egg. At last one 

 was thrown upward with the sand, and the male coolly swam toward it? 

 opened his mouth, and it disappeared down his throat. His oft-recur. 

 ring rigidities and tremors seemed to have no special connection with 

 her throes, or the possible emission of eggs, wliich I suspected at these 

 times, though without any evidence of sight. He was very brave in 

 driving off the males that approached, but one large one came twice^ 

 while I was watching them, that he did not attack, but swam in between 

 him and his mate several times, with an evident intention of keeping 

 him from her. The stranger, however, in both instances jjlaced himself 

 near the female, and the same curving, and rigidity, and tremors were 

 observed. 



The last time the rightful groom swam away with the stranger, who 

 gave him several punches with his jaws. The evident intention of the 

 former seemed to be to entice the intruder away from the nest. He es 

 corted him oft" for a long distance and returned again to his mate. After 

 three hours' observation of similar maneuvers, I left them to])ursue, un- 

 disturbed, their singular actious. 



The whole conduct of the male toward the female was a continued series 

 of caresses. He spent his whole time in circling around her, rubbing 

 against her, and wheeling away to return again, and exhibited every 

 evidence of jealousy when other males approached. J^o violence to the 

 female was offered at any time by her mate, though I saw him twice bite 

 her gently while the stranger-trout was near, as if communicating to her. 

 Seth Green, who has occupied hours in observing the movements of 

 trout, thinks the whole movements I liad the fortune to observe, were 

 merely the usual actions of trout just subsequent to the time of spawn- 

 ing. They serve, however, to contrast the conduct of the male toward 

 the female with that of the white-fish. Mr. Green says that occasion- 

 ally when the female tries the patience of the nmle too long in refusing 

 to enter the nest, he suspends moral suasion for a time and hurries her 

 toward the nest with a vigorous use of nose and jaws. A vertical move- 

 mext over the nest, and occasionally the pair locking their jaws to- 

 gether, as they rose, was what Mr. Green observed whenever the eggs 

 were emitted by the female. 



The brightness of the skin and colors, the white margin on the under 

 fins, and the comparative thinness of body, distinguish the male at the 

 spawning-season from the female, who is dark-colored, the outer rays 



