154 ANIMAL LIFE UNDER WATER 



while the fish with a grip on the jaw at intervals 

 shook his almost exhausted antagonist, like a 

 terrier shakes a rat. He then let go and slowly 

 swam away while the vanquished fish floated up 

 to the surface. The dark shadows of small fry 

 — the food of the trout — are seen scurrying off 

 in the background of the photographs, and the 

 white spots represent the floating foam. I 

 netted the exhausted trout, swabbed his gills 

 with a piece of cotton wool soaked in whisky, 

 and then held him in running water with his 

 head upstream ; when he revived he was placed 

 in another pond. 



The victorious male now became very atten- 

 tive to his mate, and in a few days she spawned. 

 Fortunately she commenced operations at a 

 distance of not more than two feet from the 

 window of the observation chamber. First, she 

 turned on her side and flapped out a hollow or 

 trench in the gravel with her tail. During her 

 exertions the eggs, or hard roe, escaped from her 

 into the hollow which she had made. The male, 

 meanwhile, was near by, and as he shed his milt, 

 or soft roe, into the water, many of the eggs 

 were fertilised. The female fish next moved a 

 few inches forward and flapped out another 



