IN THE TOADFISH'S SHOE 25 



* 



I meant what I said, and the next summer, along 



ff the shores of the Bay I hunted him up. He was not 

 in an old shoe this time, but under certain rather 

 large stones that lay just below ebb-tide mark, so 

 .that they were usually, though not always, covered 

 I with water. Here I found him keeping house; and^ 

 VJ* as I was about to keep house myself, my heart really 

 warmed to him. 



I was understanding him more and more, and so/ 

 ?*I was liking him better and better. Ugly? Wait 

 until I tell you what the dear fellow was doing. 



He was keeping house, and he was keeping it all 

 alone ! Now listen, for this is what I learned that v 

 *- f summer about the strange habits of Mrs. Toadfish, 

 and the handsome behavior of her husband. 



*./;;> 



It is along in June that the toadfish of our New 

 England bays begin to look round for their summer <- 

 homes. As far as we now know, it is the female who 

 makes the choice and leaves her future mate to find *j 

 her and her home. A rock is usually chosen, always , 



in shallow water, and sometimes so far up on the 

 '-. shore that at low tide it is left high and almost dry. 4 

 The rock may vary in size from one as small as your 

 ' hat up to the very largest. 



Having selected the place for her nest, she digs a 

 ., pathway down under the rock, and from beneath v 

 scoops out a hollow quite large enough to swim round 

 in. This completes the nest, or more properly burrow, % 

 in which her little toadfish babies are to be reared. 



<n^sJfflF^ 



