278 LECTURES ON BIOLOGY 



animals will frequently withdraw before its fierce onslaught and 

 the threateningly erected spines. The same care which the 

 stickleback bestows upon the nest and the eggs he gives after- 

 wards to the young brood. Only when they are no longer in 

 need of his protection his interest decreases, and the grown-up 

 sticklebacks will act wisely in not venturing on their father's 

 ' beat/ for he will now attack them as fiercely as other fishes. 



The care for its offspring of another fish, Geophagus 

 brachyurus, is illustrated in fig. 67. Here, again, it is the male 

 who leads his young, after having previously watched over their 

 incubation. Like a hen with her chicks, he follows the little 

 company devotedly about, but if one of the young should 



FIG. 68. Hippocampus antiquorum. MALE WITH BREAST-POCKET. 



venture too far in purposeless daring the male seizes it with the 

 mouth and often not very gently flings it back among the rest 

 of the swarms. 



It is remarkable that among fishes, as well as among 

 numerous amphibians, the male, as a rule, attends to the care 

 of the offspring, while the female takes no interest of any kind. 

 Only in very rare cases are females observed to care for their 



