Spawning. 75 



a month or six weeks previous to the spawning season, at 

 which times they can be seen running up streams and in 

 the shallow portions of lakes, in great numbers. Soon 

 afterward, the males and females pair off and prepare for 

 breeding. Owing, seemingly, to a semi-migratory habit, 

 and where the conditions are not favorable for them to 

 ascend the inlets of lakes, they will descend outlet streams 

 if the lake does not furnish suitable spawning grounds. 



They select favorable spots for their nests, usually upon a 

 gravelly or sandy bottom, or on rocky ledges, in water from 

 eighteen inches to three feet deep in rivers, and from two 

 to six feet deep in lakes and ponds, and, if possible, ad- 

 jacent to deep water, or patches of aquatic plants, to which 

 the parent fish retire if disturbed. 



The nests are circular, saucer-like depressions, varying 

 from one to three feet (usually about twice the length of 

 the fish) in diameter, which are formed by the male fish, 

 usually, by fanning and scouring from the pebbles all sand, 

 silt, and vegetable debris, by means of their tails and fins, 

 and by removing larger obstacles with their mouths. This 

 gives to the beds a bright, clean, and white appearance, 

 which in clear water can be seen at a distance of several 

 score yards. I have seen hundreds of such nests, in groups, 

 almost touching each other, in the clear-water lakes of 

 Wisconsin, Michigan, and Minnesota. 



Sometimes the nests are formed upon a muddy bottom, 

 with a pavement or foundation of small sticks and leaves, 

 from which the mud and slime have been washed and 

 scoured; and especially is this the case with the large- 

 mouth bass, which will also make its nest upon the roots 

 of water plants. . 



The females deposit their eggs on the bottom of the 

 nests, usually in rows, which are fecundated by the male 



