78 Thirty-second Report on the' State Museum. 



high wind accompanying it, frequently compelled me, although incased in india- 

 rubber, to seek the shelter of the Hatching-house. My explorations were con- 

 fined to the mosses and other plants upon and near the borders of the principal 

 pond (formed by a dam thrown across the creek), to pieces of timber floating in 

 it, and to the bed of the stream. 



The following forms were collected during my brief stay : 



FISHElS. 



Among the water-plants, drawn with the aid of a rake to the bank of the 

 pond, for the examination of their contents, were a number of specimens of the 

 little fish, commonly known as Millers' Thumbs. Often unobserved at first, 

 after the plants had lain upon the ground for several minutes, upon raising them 

 up, the fishes would be discovered lying quietly on the surface of the ground 

 beneath. Both the locality and quiet habit are strikingly at variance with 

 what is related of the Cottoids. Girard, in his Monograph of the Fresh-ioater 

 Cottoids of North America* says of them : " Clear and limpid waters, are the 

 places most preferred by these fishes. The small rivulets of cold water descending 

 along the slopes of mountains, are often their favorite residence. * * * * * 

 They keep sheltered under stones, which must be removed when in search of 

 them. When uncovered, they sometimes dart away with great rapidity, in search 

 of another hiding-place; and sometimes they wait motionless until started." 



For nearly a century, all the fresh-water Cottoids, both in this country and 

 in Europe, were supposed to constitute but a single species — the Cottus gobio 

 Linn. Subsequently, more critical observation has largely added to the num- 

 ber of the species, Girard citing seven in Europe, and fifteen in North America ; 

 of these latter, he refers thirteen to Cottus, and one each to Cottopsis and 

 Triglopsis. Jordan and Cope land, in their " Check List of the Fresh-water 

 Fishes of North America ,"f arrange the Cottoids under the four genera of 

 Pegedichthys Raf., Uranidea Dekay, Cottopsis Girard, and Triglopsis Girard, 

 having respectively 13, 9, 3 and 1 species — Nos. 106-127 of Check List. Of 

 these, but a single species, the Cottus gracilis of Heckel [Uranidea quiescens 

 of Dekay) is credited to New York. 



From the difficulty attendant upon the determination of these closely allied 

 species, I have not attempted to name the Caledonia examples, but have sub- 

 mitted them to Prof. Putnam, of Cambridge, Mass., who has made special study 

 of this interesting group. 



In the last sending from Caledonia, a large number of " stickle-backs " were 

 received — beautiful little creatures — varying in length from one inch to one inch 

 and seven-eighths, with silvery sides, their upper portion marbled in shades of 

 green, and with five or six dorsal spines from which they derive their name. 

 They belong to the family of Gasterosteido?, which, in the Check List above 

 quoted, are arranged in the genera Gasterosteus Linn., Pygosleus Brevoort, 

 Apelte* Dekay, and Eucalia Jordan. Two only of the contained species, viz. : 

 Apeltes quadracus and Eucalia Cayuga, are ascribed to New York. 



The Caledonia examples do not, apparently, belong to either of these species. 

 They have, therefore, been submitted to Prof. Putnam's study, in company with 

 the forms above mentioned.! 



The stickle-backs are noted for the singular habit which pertains to all the 

 species; of constructing nests for the reception of their eggs. 



* Smithsonian Contributions to Knowledge, 1852. Vol. iii, No. 30. 



t Bulletin of the Buffalo Society of Natural Science. Vol. iii, pp. 133-164. 



+ Prof. Putnam, having examined the specimens, refers the " millers' thumbs " to Cottus gra- 

 cilis Heckel, and the stickle-backs to Gasterosteus inconstans Kirtland (Eucalia inconstans of 

 Jordan). 



