374 HOMKS WITHOUT HANDS. 



especial property, and will not suffer any other fish to intrude 

 within its limits. His boldness is astonishing, for he will dash 

 at a fish of ten times his size, and, by dint of his fierce onset and 

 his bristling spears, drive the enemy away. Even if a stick be 

 placed within the sacred circle, he will dart at it, repeating the 

 assault as often as the stick may trespass upon his domains. 

 Within this limit, therefore, he must seek materials for his nest, 

 as he can hardly move for six inches beVond it without intruding 

 upon the grounds of another fish. This right of possession only 

 seems to extend along the banks and a few inches outwards, the 

 centre of the stream or ditch being common property. Along 

 the bank, however, where vegetation is most luxuriant, there is 

 scarcely a foot of space that is not occupied by some Stickle- 

 back, and jealously guarded by him. 



Although the nests of the Stickleback are plentifiil enough, 

 they are not so familiar to the public as might be expected, 

 principally because they are very inconspicuous, and few of the 

 uninitiated would know what they were, even if they were pointed 

 out. Being of such very delicate materials, and but loosely 

 hung together, they will not retain their form when they ai'e 

 removed from the water, but fall together in an undistinguish- 

 able mass, like a coil of tangled thread that had been soaked in 

 water for a few weeks. 



The materials of which the nest is made are extremely vari- 

 able, but they are always constructed so as to harmonize with 

 the surrounding objects, and thus to escape ordinary obser- 

 vation. Sometimes it is made of bits of grass which have been 

 blown into the river, sometimes of straws, and sometimes of 

 growing plants. The object of the nest is evident enough, wheu 

 the habits of the Stickleback are considered. As is the case 

 with many other fish, there are no more determined destroyers 

 of Stickleback eggs than the Sticklebacks themselves, and the 

 nests are evidently constructed for the purpose of affording a 

 resting-place for the eggs untU they are hatched. If a few of 

 these nests be removed from the water in a net, and the eggs 

 thrown into the stream, the Sticklebacks rush at them from all 

 sides, and fight for them like boys scrambling for halfpence. 

 The eggs are very small, barely the size of dust-shot, and are 

 yellow when first placed in the nest, but deejjeu in colour as 

 tliey approach maturity. 



