SPAWNING OF BLACK BASS 29 



household, and does his best to thrash the male 

 owner and appropriate his mate. It is a bat- 

 tle often to the death, a struggle in which no 

 quarter is desired nor given, and in which the 

 female is apparently an uninterested specta- 

 tor, ready to accompany the victor. Whatever 

 the outcome, the nest is nearly certain to be 

 destroyed. 



On account of the propensity of the male to go to 

 war when unable to find a ripe female, it is consid- 

 ered best by some not to stock a breeding-pond with 

 pairs, but to introduce females in the proportion of 

 about five females to three males. The surplus is not 

 lost, because it often happens that a male will nest a 

 second time, if he comes upon a ripe female after he 

 has hatched out the first lot of young and discards 

 them. All fish-culturists, however, do not advocate 

 or practice having the sexes in the proportion of five 

 females to three males. On the contrary, the majority 

 probably pair the fish evenly, and assert that no ill 

 effects have ever followed doing so. 



It is a curious fact that no matter how many nests 

 there are in a pond every male is able to distinguish 

 his own from his neighbour 's. A male may be removed 

 from the nest at one end of the pond, taken to the 

 other and liberated, yet, even if the distance is a mile 

 or more, it will not be long before he will be found 



