30 FISH CULTUBE 



back again oft the nest he constructed. To prove this 

 fact it is only necessary to catch a male, mark him 

 and liberate him at once. 



While the black bass is usually satisfied with one 

 female, monogamy is not an invariable habit. It is 

 said that sometimes a male, seeing a female passing 

 the nest, although he already has a mate, will rush 

 out and brii^ in the stranger, and add her to the 

 household. It is also said that occasionally, for some 

 reason or other, before the female has finished ejecting 

 her eggs, the male will become dissatisfied with her, 

 drive her away and bring in another mate to take her 

 place. Again, if a female is not attracted by the par- 

 ticular male, he will sometimes have great difficulty 

 in inducing her to remain. She will make efforts to 

 escape while he is doing all in his power to keep her. 



Sometimes she succeeds in getting away, and mates 

 with another male, but rarely without a terrible battle 

 in which she may lose one or more of her fins, or be 

 otherwise injured. It is possible that when the female 

 is dissatisfied, it may not be due to a lack of attraction 

 on the part of the male, but that she is not suited 

 with the nest, particularly if it is restricted by an arti- 

 ficial box. 



Behaviour when Spawning. — The act of 

 spawning and impregnation is exceedingly in- 

 teresting. The male and female pass each 

 other in opposite directions, pressing their 



