8o BRITISH SPORTING FISHES. 



food, and rush after the gauzy-winged ephemerae, 

 But a tiny red-worm what a prize, and what a 

 commotion it brings ! Like a brood of chickens 

 with an earthworm, every minnow goes pully-haul- 

 ing away at the delectable morsel as though for 

 very life. They rush hither and thither, chasing 

 and chased, fighting and struggling, until their 

 pink prey is torn into segments, when each rushes 

 off with what it can get. All this you may watch 

 in a very modest aquarium ; and as the lives of 

 the little fishes reach out to as much as three years, 

 there is ample time to form pleasant acquaintance. 

 This affords opportunity for studying the life- 

 history of the species, and all its domestic economy 

 is laid bare to the observer. 



Perhaps the period of spawning is the most 

 interesting, and if you search out a spot where this 

 is proceeding, this is what you will see : Upon a 

 bed of clean gravel the female lies with her head 

 up-stream, and guarded on each side by a smart, 

 pugnacious gallant. We say smart, for of all the 

 small fry of the waters, minnows are the most 

 dandified, and glow with quite a variety of 

 resplendent colours. Spawning proceeds over 

 three or four days of early May. Courting trios 

 are everywhere dotted over the stream. As the 

 exceedingly small eggs are deposited, they are 

 impregnated, and show great tenacity in holding 



