i62 NATURE'S CALENDAR 



j^i jg they scramble out of sight beneath some 



flat stone with astonishing quickness. The 



sand perch is the one best known. Close- 

 ly resembling the bottom on which they 

 rest upon leg-like fins, the darters wait 

 till something good to eat comes within 

 reach, when they catch it by a queer wrig- 

 gling leap. Two or three strokes are all 

 they can do at a time in the way of swim- 

 ming. They are great egg-thiefs, and the 

 perch is an especial sufferer from them. 



The various perches are found every- 

 where, and are among the most active 

 and interesting fishes for an aquarium, 

 where alone the habits of these small 

 fishes can be studied to advantage. 

 " Climbing weeds, burrowing in the sand, 

 perched on stones, or cracking the shell 

 of some unlucky snail against the glass 

 side of their prison, they seem possessed 

 of more than fishy knowledge." 



These perches and their relatives, such 

 as the rock or striped bass, are like the 

 weasels on shore in their fierce pursuit 

 of the smaller fishes that form their sub- 

 sistence. Those that suffer most are the 

 minnows, or cyprinoids, which are eaters 

 of minute crustaceans, insects, snails, etc., 

 together wMth much plant food, and are of 

 social habits. Many of them are exceed- 

 ingly pretty, especially in spring, when 

 their silvery scales often glow with brill- 

 iant tints. To this family belong the dace, 

 the chubs, and in fact the greater number 

 of the "shiners " of our brooks and ditches, 



Julyi9 



