CAT-FISH CULTUEE 63 



place like the sun-fish, or a moss-grown bottom 

 like the large-mouthed bass, it chooses one of 

 the banks of the pond or a sharp depression in 

 the bottom. Here is excavated a tunnel or cave, 

 sometimes equal in length to the fish itself, and 

 several times larger in circumference. 



The eggs, and there are many of them, are 

 deposited thickly on the bottom of the excava- 

 tion and fertilised, one of the parents taking a 

 position over them with only its head projecting 

 from the cavern. Here it remains almost mo- 

 tionless, rarely leaving for any purpose except 

 to drive away an intruder, or when stirred out 

 by a stick. Left alone, it will almost imme- 

 diately return to its household cares. The cat- 

 fish is a solemn and forbidding-looking creature 

 about the head, even under favourable circum- 

 stances, but there is something almost savage 

 in its aspect when guarding a nest. The cav- 

 ern, the position which the fish takes, with head 

 only projecting, and the warlike look in its eyes, 

 together with its capacious mouth, bring to 

 mind some fabled monster. 



Under favourable water-conditions in Penn- 

 sylvania, both the white and yellow cat-fishes 



