HABITS OF THE BLACK BASS. 49 



possession. . . . The male presses the roe from the female 

 by a series of bites or pressures along her belly with his mouth, 

 the female lying upon her side during the operation. The male 

 ejects the milt upon or over the roe from time to time, and the 

 spawning process lasts for two or three days. When the spawn- 

 ing is over, the male disappears from the scene, and the female 

 remains upon the nest extremely pugnacious, allowing nothing 

 to approach until the eggs have hatched and the young fry are 

 a week or ten days old. The young fish commence at once to 

 prey upon each other and continue until they are two or three 

 weeks old, when cannibalism ceases and there is no more danger 

 from that source." 



This accords, in the main, with my own observations, 

 though I have never observed the male biting or pressing 

 the abdomen of the female with his mouth ; this feature, 

 however, has been confirmed by Mr. Geo. C. Rixford, of 

 Rixford, Florida, who observed the occurrence in that state. 

 It would seem, then, that this proceeding is common to 

 both species, as Major Arnold's observations were confined 

 to the srnall-mouthed, and those of Mr. Rixford to the large- 

 mouthed Bass. 



I have often seen the female alone, and sometimes the 

 male, and sometimes both together, spinning rapidly around 

 the nest, upon their sides, ejecting the eggs or milt, which 

 sank at once to the bottom. When the fish were in pairs, 

 the edges of their bellies would be toward each other, 

 sometimes in contact, as they circled around quite close to 

 the bottom, with jerky, tremulous motions ; but I never 

 saw the male pressing the spawn from the female with his 

 mouth. 



I record the following interesting item for the benefit of 

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