IN THE TOADFISH'S SHOE 25 



I meant what I said, and the next summer, along 

 the shores of the Bay I hunted him up. He was not 

 in an old shoe this time, but under certain rather 

 large stones that lay just below ebb-tide mark, so 

 that they were usually, though not always, covered 

 with water. Here I found him keeping house; and 

 as I was about to keep house myself, my heart really 

 warmed to him. 



I was understanding him more and more, and so 

 I was liking him better and better. Ugly? Wait 

 until I tell you what the dear fellow was doing. 



He was keeping house, and he was keeping it all 

 alone ! Now listen, for this is what I learned that 

 summer about the strange habits of Mrs. Toadfish, 

 and the handsome behavior of her husband. 



It is along in June that the toadfish of our New 

 England bays begin to look round for their summer 

 homes. As far as we now know, it is the female who 

 makes the choice and leaves her future mate to find 

 her and her home. A rock is usually chosen, always 

 in shallow water, and sometimes so far up on the 

 shore that at low tide it is left high and almost dry. 

 The rock may vary in size from one as small as your 

 hat up to the very largest. 



Having selected the place for her nest, she digs a 

 pathway down under the rock, and from beneath 

 scoops out a hollow quite large enough to swim round 

 in. This completes the nest, or more properly burrow, 

 in which her little toadfish babies are to be reared. 



