Breeding-habits of Chromis philander. 323 
“ or some minutes nothing could be observed in watching 
the head of the fish but the rhythmic movement of the lower 
jaw and gills; but after an interval I could clearly see all the 
young fish in a great state of commotion, filling the whole 
front of the mouth with a living pack of minute dark 
creatures, whose movements reminded one of the ways of 
tadpoles when huddled together in dense masses, only with 
this difference, these tiny fish moved with great rapidity. 
After these creatures had made one of their periodic excur- 
sions to the front of their parent’s mouth, they always 
retreated out of sight to the back, and nothing more would 
be seen of them for a few minutes, and then there would 
be another turmoil and mad rush to the front; but none of 
them ever escaped out of the mouth. I think that these 
movements might be accounted for on the supposition that as 
these embryonic fish began to grow they gave the parent 
fish some inconvenience, and that owing to this the fish 
was obliged to constantly force his growing family from 
the pharynx to the front of the mouth, giving (him) an 
opportunity of relieving himself from the choking feeling 
(he) must have been constantly subjected to. ‘These little 
fish did not swim to the front of the mouth, but were 
evidently rushed there, as they looked like a ball composed 
of a great number of minute wriggling creatures whose real 
shape could not be seen because of the rapidity of their 
motion, which was more a revolving motion than any other. 
I could not see well enough to observe whether they were 
really fish-like in form or embryonic, and I did not like to 
disturb the fish enough to find out. Isimply kept close watch 
day after day. ‘These movements continued for some days, 
during which time I allowed several of my friends to come to 
my study and witness the strange sight, which was regularly 
repeated every few minutes. 
““ After two weeks had passed these movements almost 
ceased for atime, and I had fears that all was not going well ; 
but after careful watch for a few more days | entered my study 
early one morning, and to my great delight saw a large 
number of little fish, very perfect and beautiful, slowly and 
gracefully swimming about near to their parent’s head— 
their movements now being very different from the wrigeling 
hurry-skurry which marked their movements prior to their 
leaving for the first time their parent’s mouth. I tried 
to count the number of young in this shoal so strangely 
brought into the world. I counted sixty for certain, but there 
were probably two or three more. And now being anxious 
to prove the assertion that the parent fish among the 
