TWO FOPS AMONG THE FISHES. 



I. THE KAINBOW DARTER. 



"Little fishy in the brook." 



Xot the one "daddy caught with a hook," but an- 

 other, too small for the hook, too small for the frying- 

 pan, too small for aught else but beauty, and grace- 

 fulness of form; and yet not the young of a larger 

 fish, but full grown of himself. In every brook in 

 the State he may be found, yea, even in the rill, no 

 .more than a foot in width, which leads away from the 

 old spring-house on the hillside. You will not find 

 him swimming about like the minnows in the still 

 deep water of the stream, but where the clear eold 

 water is rushing rapidly over the stones of a ripple 

 he makes his home. There he rests quietly on the 

 bottom, waiting patiently for his food, the larva 1 or 

 young of gnats, mosquitoes and other such insects, to 

 float by. 



If you attempt to catch him, or your shadow sud- 

 denly frightens him, with a sweep of his broad pec- 

 toral or breast fins, he moves quicker than a flash a few 

 feet farther up the stream and then as suddenly comes 

 to a slop, and resumes his quiet u thoughtful" atti- 

 tude. If you persist in your attempt to capture him 

 he will dart under a small stone or submerged leaf, 

 where, like the foolish ostrich which when pursued 



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