2 THE SEA-SHORE 



Just bale out the water with a small pail, or even 

 with your hands, until the pool is nearly empty, and 

 you will be able to seize them with your fingers. 



Among the fishes which can be caught in this 

 manner are several kinds of Gobies. You can 

 easily tell them from all other fishes by the 

 curious way in which their lower fins are made. 

 These fins are placed close together, so as to 

 form a kind of cup-shaped sucker or soft pad, by 

 means of which the little creatures can cling so 

 firmly to the rocks that even a wave will not wash 

 them from their hold. And if you take them home 

 alive and put them into a basin full of sea-water, 

 they will cling to the sides and stare at you in 

 a most inquisitive way ! Owing to this habit the 

 gobies are often called " rock-fishes." 



The commonest of these odd little creatures, 

 perhaps, is the Black Goby. But the Spotted 

 Goby is very nearly as plentiful. It is rather hard 

 to see, because it is coloured just like the sand 

 at the bottom of the pool, on which it is very fond 

 of resting. But if you scoop out the water from a 

 shallow pool you will often find, not only the goby, 

 but its nest as well. For this little fish makes 

 a most curious nest in which to place its eggs. 

 First of all it hunts about till it has found half 

 an empty cockle-shell, lying at the bottom of the 

 water with its hollow side downwards. It then 

 scoops out the sand from underneath it, so as to 

 form a little chamber about as big as a marble. 



