THE BLENNY. 341 



ing out, of course, unwillingly, falls into the snare 

 prepared for him. 



Having gained your prize, do not handle it, but 

 placing your finger under the net, tilt it over the 

 mouth of the bottle, and allow the Blenny to fall 

 as gently as possible into the water. You need 

 be under no uneasiness after introducing him to the 

 aquarium about the nature of his diet. He is far 

 from being epicurean in his tastes. I supply mine ac- 

 cording to my whim at the moment, with whatever 

 is at hand, a bit of fowl, roast beef, or the like. 



The only caution I adopt when giving animal 

 food to the Blenny is to remove all traces of fat. I 

 mince their food into minute particles, and having suf- 

 ficiently moistened it, I place a morsel upon a hair 

 pencil. This attention to their comforts the Blennies 

 soon learn to appreciate, and will, after a while, 

 display at meal times the sagacity of larger animals. 



Perhaps the simplest plan to adopt is to cut open 

 a mussel and throw it into the tank. A considerable 

 deal of amusement, moreover, is often to be obtained 

 by watching the fishes engaged at such a meal. 

 How they toss the valves of the Mytilus about, and 

 snap at each other's tails ! How vexed they become 

 if by accident the shelly dish is turned topsy-turvy, 

 and resists all their manoeuvres to reverse it so as to 

 get at the meat ! The valves of a large mussel will 

 sometimes be literally cleaned out by some half dozen 

 Blennies in the course of an hour. 



