396 RAMBLES ABOUT HOME. 



Taking now into consideration this habit, together 

 with that of giving the body a salamandrine position, 

 often maintained for several minutes, as well as that of 

 burrowing in the mud, and also its capacity to withstand 

 exposure to the atmosphere for a long time, is not the 

 suggestion reasonable that a radical change may ulti- 

 mately take place, and a semi-aquatic animal, allied at 

 least in habits to the salamanders, be the result? 



The mud -minnow is carnivorous. When kept in 

 aquaria they will devour any reasonable number of flies 

 offered them, and undertake, without hesitation, to swal- 

 low earth-worms, as large as themselves. Once they take 

 hold of a worm, they never let go, but at least secure that 

 portion of the animal between their jaws. Not only 

 do they allow themselves to be fed, by taking food di- 

 rectly from one's hand, but they will leap above the 

 water to seize any tempting morsel held above them. 

 Learning this from observations of many specimens kept 

 in aquaria, I was led to suppose that the same occurred 

 habitually in their native haunts, and this is true. Unlike 

 any other of our fishes, the mud-minnow will leap twice 

 and thrice its length above the surface of the water to 

 seize a fly or beetle that happens to rest upon some over- 

 hanging blade of grass or twig. So often, of recent 

 years, have I seen this, while floating quietly along on 

 the watch, that I am surprised that Professor Forbes, in 

 speaking of the food of these fishes, should state that in- 

 sects amount to but " fourteen per cent, chiefly undeter- 

 mined larvae," and further that " no terrestrial forms were 

 recognized." While it is scarcely probable that a fish with 

 so good an appetite could largely depend upon terrestrial 

 insects for its food-supply, yet it is evident, both from 

 aquaria studies and out-door observations, that these do 

 constitute a considerable percentage of its food. With 



