BRIEF NOTES ON FISHES. 391 



fishes do through the clear waters. Zadoc Thompson, in 

 his " History of Vermont," speaks of them as very tena- 

 cious of life, and says they "can live longer than most 

 fishes without water. During droughts, as the waters sub- 

 side and recede from the coves, they have the power by 

 a springing motion of transporting themselves from one 

 little puddle to another. They also have the power of 

 partially burying themselves and living in the mud and 

 among the moist grass-roots, after the other small fishes 

 associated with them are all dead from the want of water. 

 In these situations vast numbers of them are devoured 

 by birds, musk-rats, and foxes." This coincides with my 

 own observations, except that, unfortunately, we have no 

 foxes to devour the superabundant minnows. 



One feature of peculiar interest in this fish is the 

 great variation of color. While nearly all our dark-hued 

 fishes differ in the depth of coloring, this variation is 

 either permanent or it is in a measure dependent upon 

 the season, as when colors are heightened by excessive 

 vitality during the breeding-season ; but in this case it is 

 wholly different. Specimens kept in an aquarium, where 

 the surroundings closely imitated their natural haunts, 

 never exhibited uniform coloring. In many females the 

 body below the lateral line was often glossy black, re- 

 lieved by minute silvery dots ; but frequently this color 

 faded to the general hue of the back, which is a dull, green- 

 ish brown, in the larger specimens relieved by darker 

 vertical bands. The most marked variation was in some 

 of the smaller specimens, which were almost silvery in 

 color below the lateral line, and pale, greenish gray above. 

 The dark vertical band at the base of the tail is always 

 present. No published description of the color will ap- 

 ply to one in a hundred living specimens. 



During the winter of 1873-'T4: I had unusually fa- 



