THE TEN- SP I NED STICKLEBACK. 215 



themselves near the shore in the warm sunshine, others have been busily engaged making their 

 nests, if a nest it can be called. It consisted of the very minutest pieces of straw or sticks, 

 the exact color of the ground at the bottom of the water on which it was laid, so that it was 

 next to an impossibility for any one to discover the nest, unless they saw the fish at work, or 

 observed the eggs. 



"The nest is somewhat larger than a twenty-five-cent piece, and has a top or cover, 

 with a hole, in the centre, about the size of a very small nut, in which are deposited the 

 eggs or spawn. This opening is frequently concealed by drawing small fragments over it, 

 but this is not always the case. Many times have I taken up the nest, and thrown the 

 eggs to the multitude around, which they instantly devoured with the greatest voracity. 

 These eggs are about the size of poppy seeds, and of a bright yellow color ; but I have 

 at times seen them almost black, which, I suppose, is an indication that they are approaching 

 to life. 



" In making the nest, I observed that the fish used an unusual degree of force when con- 

 veying the material to its destination. When the fish was about an inch from the nest, it 

 suddenly darted at the spot, and left the tiny fragment in its place, after which it would be 

 engaged for half a minute in adjusting it. The nest, when taken up, did not separate, but 

 hung together like a piece of wool." 



This interesting little account is doubly valuable, as not being the work of a professed 

 naturalist, but of an observant lover of nature, who saw some curious phenomena, and recorded 

 them in simple and unpretending language. The fifteen-spined Stickleback, a marine species, 

 also makes a nest, though hardly of so careful a construction. 



The Three-spined Stickleback is very fond of inhabiting the mouths of rivers where they 

 empty themselves into the sea, the brackish water appearing to suit its constitution. It can 

 therefore be easily acclimatized to new conditions, and a specimen that has been taken from 

 an inland stream can soon be brought to inhabiting the water of a marine aquarium, though 

 such water is usually, in consequence of evaporation, more salt than that of the sea. 



As a general fact, the fiesh of the Stickleback is despised as an article of food, ami in my 

 opinion wrongly so. I have often partaken of these little fish fried, or even baked, and think 

 them decidedly palatable — delicate, crisp, and well-fiavored, with the slightest possible dash of 

 bitter that gives a unique piquancy to the dish. At all events, the young of the Stickleback 

 and the minnow frequently do duty as whitebait, and the guests never discover the deception. 

 Yet there is hardly any place in Europe where people, except the starving poor, will con- 

 descend to eat this delicate and nutritious little fish, which can be scooped by thousands out 

 of any streamlet, and does not require more trouble in cooking than the red herring. The 

 only use that at present seems to be made of this fish is to spread it over the ground as manure, 

 an office which it certainly fulfils admirably, but might, in all probability, be better employed 

 in feeding man than manuring his fields. An oil is sometimes expressed from them, and the 

 refuse carted off to the fields, but the value of the oil seems hardly to repay the trouble of 

 procuring it. 



Mr. Yarrell mentions a considerable number of Sticklebacks ; but Br. Gunther, in his 

 elaborate catalogue of Acanthopterygian iishes, comprises several s]>ecies together, as only 

 varieties and not different species. For example, the Quarter-armed Stickleback {Gaster- 

 osteus gymnurus), or Smooth-tailed Stickleback, known by its four or five scaly plates 

 above the pectoral fin ; the Half-armed Stickleback {Qasterosteus semiarmatus), where the 

 plates extend throughout half the length of the body ; the Half-mailed Stickleback (Gas- 

 terosteus semiloricatus), where they extend still farther; and the New York Stickleback 

 (Gasterostetts noveboracensis), are all considered as being only varieties of the species which 

 has just been denoted. 



The Ten-spined Stickleback is nearly, if not quite, as plentiful as the three-spined 

 species, and is perhaps the smallest of our river-fish. 



It may be readily distinguished by the nine or ten spines upon the back, all in front of 

 the dorsal fin, and by the absence of plates upon the sides. All the Sticklebacks are voracious 



