388 RAMBLES ABOUT HOME. 



jaws, the pirate would go to the arch, and remain perhaps 

 all the next day with its mouth distended by the project- 

 ing tail of the minnow it had swallowed. 



As in the case of the banded sunfish, I am not posi- 

 tive as to the breeding-habits of this fish. In the " Ten- 

 foot Ditch," in my neighbor's mucky meadow, I found 

 early in June, 1860, very young specimens, which were 

 thought to be but three or four weeks old at most. The 

 water here was clear, with a swift current, and the 

 bottom of the stream was completely covered with pond- 

 weeds of several species. Somewhere near, the eggs 

 must have been laid ; but where, or how many, is a mat- 

 ter of conjecture. There were not many of these young 

 fish. 



From circumstances connected with the finding of 

 very young " pirates " in a nameless brook flowing into 

 Cooper's Creek, Camden County, K. J., and later of find- 

 ing very many associated young fish in the Shabbaconk 

 Creek, I was led to believe that this fish made a nest 

 like that of the common sunfish, and often appropri- 

 ated the nests made by the " sunny." So sure was I 

 of this, that I made an unqualified assertion to that effect 

 in the " Geology of New Jersey," Appendix E, p. 808, and 

 since then in " The Naturalist " ; but of late years I have 

 not been able to verify this. I can, however, speak very 

 positively of the fact that the parent fish remain with 

 the young for a considerable time, apparently to guard 

 them ; or was it to devour one occasionally, other food 

 being scarce ? 



In speaking of the nests of the common sunfish, Mr. 

 C. F. Holder, in the article I have already quoted, refers 

 to the nesting habits of the " pirate " as follows : 



"They have, however, one enemy that seems to defy 

 them, the pirate perch (Aphrodederus Sayanus), which, 



