BRIEF NOTES ON FISHES. 383 



forced to admit that my own observations do not warrant 

 me in going further than saying that this is probably 

 true. Wherever one finds the banded sunfish, he is sure 

 to find a few individuals of the common " sunny," and, 

 when we consider the fact of the association of these 

 species, how readily might it happen that the accidental 

 proximity of a banded sunfish to a nest of the common 

 species should lead to the impression that the nest was 

 the possession of fish seen near it ! I was possibly misled 

 in this matter years ago. At all events, I am not posi- 

 tive I ever saw a nest of the banded sunfish. 



A very constant companion of the preceding is a 

 beautiful sunfish of about the same size, but very differ- 

 ently colored. It is known locally as the " spotted sun- 

 fish," from the blue and golden dots that are profusely 

 sprinkled over the male fish. It has been given a vari- 

 ety of scientific names, and that which rightfully belongs 

 to it, because first given, has been generally ignored. 



I find in the hand-book that there are two of these 

 spotted sunfish allotted to the Delaware, which, I doubt 

 not, is all very true ; but it is not always easy to tell which 

 is which, if we follow the directions of the manual. One 

 of the two has golden spots, and one blue spots so it is 

 said ; but when I put one of them in a glass, I find the 

 spots are blue one minute and golden the next, and so 

 the change keeps on. Then we are told that one has 

 cross bars of black, and the other has them not ; but this 

 is only true in part, as the females of the spotted sun- 

 fish want the bars and spots, and the males have them : 

 and so we could go on to the end of the chapter. If 

 there are two species of these small spotted sun fish, then 

 one is that named by Professor Baird obesus, the other 

 called guttatus by Dr. Morris years ago. I well remember 

 the specimens the doctor caught, and christened as above, 



