166 PEOSE HAXIEUTICS. 



credible as it may appear, I have seen one, during a bat- 

 tle, absolutely rip his opponent quite open, so that he 

 sank to the bottom and died. I have occasionally known 

 three or four parts of the tub taken possession of by as 

 many other little tyrants, who guard their territories 

 -with the strictest vigilance, and the slightest invasion 

 invariably brings on a battle. These are the habits of 

 the male fish alone ; the females are quite pacific, appear 

 fat, as if full of roe, and never assume the brilliant co- 

 lours of the male, by whom, as far as I have observed, 

 they are unmolested.' 



Some other interesting traits of the stickleback, having 

 reference to the extraordinary love it bears its young, 

 have been recently given by a French naturalist, Mons. 

 Costa ; ' like the phycis, this little creature constructs a 

 nest, displaying as much iagenuity in this work as any 

 bird, carrying for its purpose small pieces of plants in its 

 mouth often to a great distance ; all these, together with 

 minute particles of sand, it collects into one spot, and 

 having allowed them to settle at the bottom, it smears 

 them over with a sort of glutinous secretion, which at- 

 taches them firmly. It then presses them together by 

 a peculiar movement of the body, frequently striking the 

 mass with its pectoral fins, as if to ascertain whether it 

 has acquired the necessary consistency.' 



Sea Scorpions. 



The sea has her scorpions as weU as the land ; and 

 ' pro perca scorpio ' is a familiar marine proverb imply- 

 ing a very bad rate of exchange. Unlike its namesake 

 on shore, possessed of only one solitary taU-sting, the 

 head of this scorpion-fish is surrounded with goads and 

 prickles. ' Scorpsena's poisoned head, beset with spines,' 

 is Ovid's apt description of it. '.4Xt6v? wXrjyeh voov 

 o'iaei, is a Greek adage, akin to our English one, ' A 



