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aquatic fLitt 



ward by the bass in forming the nest. 

 They were usually located in a small, 

 cleared area among pond weeds (Pota- 

 mogeton). The diameter of the central 

 or gravelly portion of the nest, through- 

 out which the eggs were found concealed, 

 varied between one and two feet ; the 

 extreme diameter, from one and one-half 

 to three feet. Most of the bass nests 

 were in depths greater than two feet, and 

 at distances from the shore greater than 

 ten feet. 



The single warmouth bass (Chaeno- 

 bryttus gulosus) observed breeding in the 

 lagoon was found on June n, over its 

 nest, about fifteen feet from shore. The 

 nest, which resembled that of the black 

 bass, was located at a depth of about 

 three feet in a cleared area in a thick 

 growth of Potamogeton. The fish was 

 affected with fungus, and died two days 

 later. 



A green sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus) 

 was found guarding its eggs on June 20. 

 No nest whatever had been constructed, 

 the eggs being attached to willow rootlets, 

 which here projected thickly into the 

 water at the very edge of the lagoon. The 

 guardian fish, presumably the male, was 

 very brilliantly colored ; back and sides 

 metallic green, rather indistinctly barred, 

 grading into coppery below, each scale 

 margined with darker; the cheeks with 

 emerald spots and streaks, more inter- 

 rupted than those of the pumpkin-seed ; 

 the opercular flap greenish black, mar- 

 gined with coppery ; soft dorsal and anal 

 fins each with a black spot at base of the 

 last rays, the former fin with a narrow, 

 the latter with a wide margin of orange. 

 This fish was surprisingly "tame," re- 

 peatedly taking an earthworm from one's 

 fingers, permitting itself to be touched, 

 and rising to one's hand on the surface 

 of the water, and only gently biting at 

 one's fingers, like a dog at play, when 

 the eggs were being examined in the root- 



lets. Occasionally it circled off to a dis- 

 tance of about two feet, but returned at 

 once ; even after being caught and exam- 

 ined a moment, it came back in about two 

 minutes from the deeper water in which 

 it had temporarily taken refuge. On the 

 next two days, however, the fish darted 

 off immediately upon approach. 



After a few warm days, the last of the 

 month of May, the two commoner species 

 of sunfishes, the pumpkin-seed (Lepomis 

 gibbosus) and the blue-gill (Lepomis in- 

 cisor) began breeding at approximately 

 the same time in scattered localities 

 throughout the lagoon. The number of 

 nests gradually became more numerous, 

 the breeding season for each species 

 reaching its height between June 15 and 

 June 20. A few days of hot weather 

 then terminated their breeding; careful 

 search from shore and boat disclosed no 

 new or occupied nests during the last few 

 days of June or the first few of July. 



That sunfishes do not always construct 

 their own nests is proved by the follow- 

 ing instance. A blue gill was observed 

 guarding a certain nest in the lagoon on 

 June 15, 16 and 17; on June 18 it was 

 not in evidence, but a pumpkin-seed was 

 swimming about the nest, though not 

 actually resting on it ; on the morning of 

 June 19 apparently the same pumpkin- 

 seed was guarding a mass of eggs in the 

 nest, but by noon of the same day most 

 of the eggs had been removed (by small 

 boys?), and in the evening the male was 

 observed spawning again with a female 

 on the same nest. 



If a man calls you a fool call him an- 

 other; that is, if you are curious to learn 

 something worse about yourself. 



"We are never too old to learn," quoted 

 the Wise Guy. "No, the difficulty is 

 we are sometimes too young," replied the 

 Simple Mug. 



