1826.] On the Habits and Food of the Stickleback. 175 



hung over his mouth, and darting to the bottom and sides of thfe 

 glass with all his strength, endeavoured to rub off this tantalizing 

 morsel. This lasted for nearly a minute, when at last he got 

 rid of the leech by rubbing his back upon the bottom of the 

 vessel. The leech, perfectly aware of the company he was in, 

 no sooner loosed his hold than he attempted to wriggle away 

 from his devourer, but before he had reached midway up the 

 tumbler, the stickleback had turned, and finished the contest by 

 swallowing him up. 



This voracious little fish not only preys upon the young of the 

 leech, but sometimes devours the fry of its own species. In 

 two or three instances, when leeches had not been procured, a 

 young stickleback, about half an inch long, was dropped into 

 the glass, and instantly swallowed. On other occasions, when 

 some of the larger size were put in along with him, he contented 

 himself with killing them. Perhaps the spines of these larger 

 fish, which are erected when in danger, and upon the death of 

 the animal, were too strong for the texture of his throat. In the 

 ponds and ditches where sticklebacks occur, the young fry will 

 always be found to seek protection in the shallowest parts of the 

 water from their full-grown enemies. Our stickleback, at 

 another time, when two minnows, much larger than himself, had 

 been put in to keep him company, attacked them with fury. 

 They fled from his bite in evident dismay ; and one of them, 

 finding no other means of escape, fairly leaped out of the vessel. 

 Even a female of his own species was not better treated by this 

 ungallant tyrant, who allowed no stranger to enter his domain 

 with impunity. 



The young of the leech being thus, it is conceived, a frequent 

 food of the stickleback, it is not marvellous that such a little 

 devourer should occasionally gorge himself by swallowino- a 

 leech of large dimensions for the capacity of his stomach. That 

 this was the case of Mr. Ramage's stickleback seems evident 

 from the situation in which it was found, near the surface of the 

 water, and the facility with which it was caught. Leeches 

 possess the power of contracting and expanding themselves to A. 

 great degree 5 and it is not in the least surprising, that, when 

 released from pressure by the death of the stickleback, and 

 swelled by liquid, Mr. Ramage's leech should appear to be 

 larger than the animal that had swallowed it. That it could 

 have lived in the stomach of the stickleback from the period 

 when it was very young till it attained the size mentioned by 

 Mr. Ramage, is very improbable. From the circumstance of 

 sticklebacks feeding on leeches with avidity, it may be inferred, 

 that nature has provided them with the means of digesting this 

 species of aliment ; and the fact of their being fed for weeks oii 

 leeches alone, and the usual processes of digestion and excretion 

 going on, raises this inference to absolute certainty. That an 



