S8 NEW YORK STATE! MUSEUM 



large areas of jet black combined with lemon and white. These 

 freaks are among the most interesting and beautiful observed 

 in this family of fishes. 



From Jordan's Manual of the Vertebrates I quote Thoreau's ac- 

 count of the habits of this species : 



The horned pout are " dull and blundering fellows," fond of 

 the mud, and growing best in weedy ponds and rivers without 

 current. They stay near the bottom, moving slowly about with 

 their barbels widely spread, watching for anything eatable. 

 They will take any kind of bait, from an angleworm to a piece 

 of a tin tomato can, without coquetry, and they seldom fail to 

 swallow the hook. They are very tenacious of life, ^^opening 

 and shutting their mouths for half an hour after their heads 

 have been cut off." They spawn in spring, and the old fishes 

 lead the young in great schools near the shore, seemingly car- 

 ing for them as the hen for her chickens. 



The species was obtained in Swan river at Patchogue N. Y. 

 Aug. 12, 1898. Young were seined in Bronx river in August. 

 Larger individuals were sent from Canandaigua lake and Sara- 

 nac lake in November. Several albinos were obtained from the 

 Hackensack meadows, N. J., in August 1897. In three months 

 they grew from 3 inches to 6 inches in length. In captivity 

 the fish feed freely on chopped hard clams and earthworms and, 

 occasionally, liver. 



The following notes are from Eugene Smith, in Proc. Linn. 

 Soc. N. Y. 1897, p. 11-12. 



Very variable in color, from dark blackish and olive to brown 

 and yellowish above, becoming lighter below, and often clouded 

 on the sides. Those from tidal or running water are lighter 

 colored than those from stagnant places or ponds. 



The largest specimen found by me in the near vicinity of New 

 York measured ISJ inches in length and weighed 1 pound 2 

 ounces. 



At the end of the third year this fish is perhaps fully matured. 

 The ripe eggs are of the size of large pin heads and are of an 

 orange color; the very young fishes look like little black toad 

 tadpoles. The spines are strongly developed at an early age. 

 The old fish accompanies the brood for a certain time, always 

 swimming around the swarm of young in order to keep them 

 together. When alarmed the parent dashes off, followed by the 

 whole swarm. 



