APPENDIX. 255 



ponds, among the plants which grow there, the gourami 

 attaches a spherical nest, composed of plants and mud, and 

 resembling in form those of certain birds. 



Each nest is about fourteen centimetres, or between 

 five and six inches in length ; the male and female labor 

 assidously in its construction, and continue their toils till 

 it is completed. In five or six days, or a week at furthest, 

 it is finished. This aptitude of the gourami to make a 

 nest is facilitated, when the pairing-season has arrived, by 

 placing in the water, almost at the surface, a large branch 

 of bamboo {Bambusa arundinacea, Wild.), to which are 

 attached bundles of fine dog's-tooth grass. The gourami 

 takes this grass and forms with it its nest in the branches 

 of the submerged bamboo, in the same way that the silk- 

 worm avails itself of the branch which is presented for it 

 to make its nest on. Toward the end of the months of 

 September and of March, in the island of Bourbon, propa- 

 gation takes place. The nest made, the female deposits its 

 eggs, of which there from about 800 to 1000. After the 

 eggs have been deposited, and while they are becoming 

 matured, the parents remain near the nest, prepared to 

 drive away intruders. 



The eggs are soon hatched, and the young then find in 

 their nest "a refuge where they are free from a thousand 

 dangers which would threaten them for the first days of 

 their life. Besides, they find in the macerated vegetable 

 matter, which partly composes their nest, their earliest 

 food, and which is most suitable for their delicate con- 

 dition. Soon afterwards they make short excursions from 

 the nest under the guidance of the mother fish, who is pre- 

 pared to give them aid in case of need. They do not dis- 

 perse, but keep together in bands. The young still retain 

 the yelk-bags, which trail behind like two long appendages 



