356 Wild Life in a Southern County. 
go out into the irrigated meadows, following the 
water-carriers for a long distance. 
In quiet, sheltered places, where the water is clear 
but does not run too swiftly, the ‘minnie,’ as the 
stickleback is locally called, makes its nest beside the 
bank. A small hole in the sand is excavated, and in 
this are laid a number of tiny fibres such as are 
carried along by the stream, resembling a miniature 
faggot. On these fibres the ova are deposited, and 
they are then either purposely partly covered with 
sand by the minnie; or else the particles that are - 
brought down by the current gather over the bundle 
of fibres and conceal it, excepting one small spot. 
There several of the slender roots seem to slightly 
project, and they are kept clear of mud or sand so as 
to answer the purpose of a doorway. I have watched 
these operations many times, but never saw the 
minnie attempt to enter the nest; indeed, he could 
not have done so, the opening not being large 
enough. 
When the nest has reached this stage of comple- 
tion it is easy to discover, because the stickleback 
keeps watch before it, and at that season his breast 
is of a bright crimson hue. He guards the nest 
with the greatest care, and if he is tempted away for 
a minute by some morsel of food he is back again 
immediately. If a tiny twig or fibre comes along and 
threatens to catch against the nest, he removes it in 
his mouth, carrying it out into the stream that it may 
