ANIMALS FOR. 



47 



phoxinus), is a pretty little sportive fish, which 

 may be easily obtained at the fishing-tackle-sellers', 

 as it is used as a bait for pike. It is very active, and 

 when whisking about in the water with a bright, 

 sun shining on it, forms a most beautiful object. 

 It seldom attains a length of more than three 

 inches. The head and back are of a dusky olive- 

 colour, while the belly is perfectly white, with a 

 shade of pink during the summer season. 



The LOACH, LOCHE, or BEARDIE (Cobitis bar- 

 batula), Fig. 7, is a little fish, not uncommon in our 



FIG. 7. 



rivers and brooks, but which, from its habit of 

 lurking under stones, is not often observed. It will 

 live well in the Aquavivarium. It may be known 

 from the other fish we have mentioned by the 

 little barbules around its mouth. Many other fish 

 have this appendage, and they are said all of them 

 to feed at the bottom of the water. The Loach 

 feeds upon the various kinds of worms, aquatic 

 insects, and the smaller Crustacea. These latter 

 sometimes abound in our ponds ; and by fishing with 

 a muslin net may often be obtained in large quan- 

 tities as food for the fish of an Aquavivarium. 

 The GUDGEON (Gobio fluviatilis), Fig. 8, is another 



