BRIEF NOTES ON FISHES. 401 



the full meaning of the warblers' merry notes, and were 

 inspired by the sight of the crimson flashes of light that 

 glance upon the water as the mad-cap oriole in his nup- 

 tial dress rushes hither and yon among the overarching 

 trees. Indeed, at this time, the dull, leaden tints of this 

 fish become a glistening blue, and bands of sparkling sil- 

 ver deck its ashy sides. No water seems too cold or 

 too shallow for them. They dart like pickerel up the 

 tiny spring-brooks that feed the pond, and skip and dance 

 about the deeper water as though too joyful to contain 

 themselves. From the muddy depths they rise to the 

 surface, and, throwing themselves upon their sides, leap 

 above the water, as though challenging the birds to match 

 their brilliant colors. For a few days, their excess of 

 action is kept up, and then it ends, as all such manoeu- 

 vres ever do, in a profound reaction, when their hum- 

 drum existence returns ; and so quietly do they keep 

 themselves throughout the summer, that their existence 

 would not be suspected by the casual observer. 







