PROPAGATION 69 



remains near, it will nearly always be found that the nest 

 contains eggs or young fish. One may sometimes approach 

 the nest and introduce the hand into it before the male takes 

 flight. If the male leaves at once and hurriedly, as the nest 

 is approached, it will usually be found to be empty. 



If another fish approaches the nest at this time he is in- 

 variably attacked and driven away. I have never seen 

 other fish stop to do battle at this time. They invariably 

 flee, as though recognizing the ability of the brooding fish to 

 successfully defend the nest. Although the presence of the 

 male fish thus keeps the eggs in a measure free from sediment, 

 it does not effect this completely. After a time the fry, 

 newly hatched, fall into the crevices between the pebbles, 

 where they may be seen only with the greatest difficulty. 

 The pebbles in a freshly made nest are scoured clean and the 

 nest is thus rendered conspicuous, owing to the fact that 

 the nest pebbles, with their coating of eggs, stand out in sharp 

 contrast to the sediment-covered pebbles of the surrounding 

 bottom. With the lapse of time the sediment gradually 

 accumulates in the nest in spite of the movements of the 

 male, which must not be too violent lest the loosely attached 

 eggs or the helpless young fish be swept from the nest. The 

 result is that by the time the eggs have hatched the nest is 

 no longer conspicuous. He who would now find it, should 

 search not for the nest itself but for the male that guards it. 

 If a male bass is found, not readily frightened away at the 

 sight of the observer, and if the frightened fish returns after 

 a time to the same spot, a nest may be sought for in the 

 neighbourhood. A careful examination of the bottom may 

 then show a depression in which the pebbles are less thickly 

 covered with sediment than elsewhere. Such a nest may, 

 however, have been so nearly obliterated by the deposit of 

 sediment that it is only when one brings up the eggs or young 

 fish from the bottom with a dipping tube that one may be 

 sure of it. 



