34 FISH CULTTJEE 



wades into the water, or strike at Ms hands 

 or at the net when the nest is being tampered 

 with. 



During all the time of bnilding the nest and 

 watching the eggs, and until long after the 

 little fish are hatched, the ^ale bass does not 

 usually take any food. If food be dropped 

 into the nest he will pick it up and throw it 

 outside. It is said to be a fact that if a fish 

 has been killed, or for some reason driven 

 from the nest, while the eggs are still un- 

 hatched, and another male comes along and 

 takes possession, instead of assuming charge 

 and hatching the eggs as he finds them he will 

 simply treat the eggs as dirt, clean the nest, 

 and bring in a female to deposit a new stock. 



Another curiosity of the spawning period is 

 the frequency with which a male will select for 

 his mate a female much larger than himself. 

 Out of forty-seven nests which I examined in 

 one natural pond, two-thirds of the males were 

 much smaller than the females ; and, as a rule, 

 a female bass is larger than a male of the same 

 age. Except for a short time before spawning 

 actually begins it is extremely difficult to dis- 



