172 OTHEK ANIMALS 



is done is by its foot-stomach, which is quite soft but 

 furnished with a layer of sharp flint crystals at the base, 

 which are renewed when they are worn down. With this 

 scraper, the indomitable little piddock, chanting the while 

 the " Triumph of Life," files its way into the hard rock. 



A FISH OUT OF WATER 



A fish of curious habits exists in New Zealand, and as 

 it has apparently hitherto escaped the notice of naturalists , 

 you will, perhaps, admit a brief account of it. The fish 

 is called by the Maories the kakawai. Its habitat is very 

 extensive in the North Island, and it may be found on 

 the Wairarapa Plains, the Forty-mile Bush, etc. It is 

 generally discovered when a man is digging out rabbits 

 or making post holes in the summer time, and it lies at a 

 depth of a foot or two feet under the soil. The character 

 of the soil, whether sandy or loamy, does not seem to 

 matter. The fish is from two to three inches long, silvery, 

 shaped like a minnow, but rather more slender and taper- 

 ing. It appears to be dead when exhumed, and if dug up 

 in the summer and put into water it dies at once. If, 

 however, it is brought to daylight in May or early June 

 (the end of autumn), when the rains are beginning to 

 make the soil thoroughly wet, and put into a tub of water 

 a curious thing happens. After a day or two it casts its 

 skin, which sinks to the bottom, and the fish plays about 

 bright and lively. When dug up in summer there appears 

 to be a growth of skin, or perhaps a dry gummy exuda- 

 tion, which seals up the head and gills. Apparently this 

 enables it to sestivate through the dry weather, and seals 

 the fish as an Indian fakir is sealed up before he goes 

 in for a long fasting burial. Of course, in winter there 

 must be marshy spots or pools in which the fish can 

 swim and propagate, but often all evidence of such nata- 

 tion disappears in summer, and the hot, dry, waterless 

 plain seems the last place on earth in which to find a 



