BRIEF NOTES ON FISHES. 427 



During the months of May and June there is a 

 change for the better, and it is interesting to observe the 

 care then exhibited by the parent fish in guarding their 

 numerous progeny. Unlike the majority of our fishes, 

 who know nothing of their young, the cat-fish guard 

 theirs with much solicitude, and often brave great dan- 

 gers to extricate such of their young as may have fallen 

 into trouble. In thus caring for their offspring, they 

 remind one forcibly of a hen and her chickens. The old 

 fish scratches the mud, or rather roots it up, with as 

 much earnestness as a hen does the dunghill ; and the 

 young fish crowd about her head, as eager for something 

 edible as are the chicks for worms or seeds. The simi- 

 larity may extend further, and the old fish may cluck to 

 her young ; but of this I am not positive, though I am 

 inclined to believe it. That cat-fish have a fairly well 

 developed voice is unquestionable. 



In order to test the patience and affection for their 

 young, possessed by this fish, I experimented in this 

 manner : With a scoop-net I captured nearly an entire 

 brood, and put them into a large glass globe, which I 

 covered at the top with fine sieving. Placing the globe 

 with its contents in the water, I was delighted to find 

 that the parent fish evidently recognized its offspring, 

 and was, as can well be imagined, in great trouble and 

 perplexity at their evident imprisonment, which was a 

 great mystery. The parent fish swam boldly up to the 

 glass, and was brought to a stand-still by the unseen bar- 

 rier which separated her from her young. So long as I 

 watched, the bewildered fish did not cease her efforts to 

 break through the mysterious something that prevented 

 her young from escaping. I left the globe in the water 

 through the night, and found early the next morning 

 that the faithful parent was still at her post. As the 



