130 Tzvcnty-ninth Annual Meeting 



Repeated experiments were made to test the period of incuba- 

 tion and raising of the fry from the nest, which aU proved, with- 

 out the shadow of a doubt, that the eggs hatch in from 48 to 72 

 hours after they are deposited, and that the fry raise from the nest 

 in fro^m six to eight days after they are hatched. These experi- 

 ments were made by removing a few of the eggs from a nest with 

 a rubber tube and placing them .in a tin-pan or pail. The vessel 

 containing the eggs was kept in fresh water at the head of one of 

 the ponds, where it was deep enough to allow the current to cir- 

 culate over it. At the same time that the eggs disappeared in the 

 ponds it was noticed that the ones in the pans would he hatched, 

 though it was very difficult to see them, even in the pans, without 

 careful inspection, as they are almost, if not entirely, without color. 

 To prove this more thoroughly, a rul)ber tube was placed in the 

 nest, from which the eggs were taken to make the experiment, 

 and fry were sucked up from the bottom, where none could be 

 seen with the naked eye. The fry were apparently of the same age 

 as the ones in the pan, as was indicated by an examination under 

 the microscope. 



A fact which surprised us more than anything else is that the 

 bass spawn several times during the season. We observed early 

 in the season that we had more nests with eggs on them than we 

 had both male and female bass, and by the 15th of July the num- 

 ber had increased to about twice that. In all the ponds we only 

 had 28 adult fish, while up to this time we have seen eggs on 57 

 nests, and the fish are still spawning. We know absolutely that 

 one large male bass fathered eight dififerent nests of eggs from 

 April 9tli to July 4th. He was the largest male bass we had and 

 was marked by a couple of splits in his tail, whicli enabled us to 

 identify him readily. On one occasion he was seen taking care of 

 a large brood of fry and a nest of eggs at the same time. 



We noticed that the principal time of spawning is in the after- 

 noon, usually, we think, with a low Imrometer, as they spawned, 

 almost invariably, just before a thunder shower. On several occa- 

 sions a. male was seen to have two females on the nest with him 

 at the same time, and, as a rule, this proved disastrous to the eggs. 



