174 THE HAUNTS OF LIFE 



safe place for the eggs. They choose out a 

 spot with a sandy bottom and, attaching them- 

 selves by their sucker-mouths to any stones 

 upon it, they pull these to the lower part of 

 their chosen site, thus making a little dam 

 which will keep the eggs from being washed 

 away. Then they fasten themselves to a stone 

 at the upper edge of their pool, and lash up 

 the sand with their tails, while some of the 

 eggs and sperms are discharged into the water. 

 The eggs sink to the bottom, and the sand 

 settles over them. More stones are added to 

 the wall of the dam, and the laying process is 

 repeated at intervals. Sometimes a number 

 of lampreys combine to make a nest, and they 

 may be seen hanging in a cluster from a stone. 

 When spawning is over, the lampreys are so 

 exhausted that they never recover ; they float 

 away downstream and soon die. 



The eggs hatch out in about three weeks. 

 The young ones are quite different from their 

 parents, and got their common name of 

 " Prides " long before it was known what they 

 really were. They are yellowish, worm-like 

 creatures, with no visible eyes, and a horseshoe 

 mouth. They make a kind of tunnel open at 

 both ends in the sand, and spend all their time 



