THE STICKLEBACK. 463 
Sticklebacks, for they will even go out of their way to attack anything which 
they think may possibly offend them, and they have no more hesitation in 
charging at a human being than at one of their own species. I have known 
one of these belligerent fish make repeated dashes at my walking-stick, 
knocking his nose so hard against his inanimate antagonist that he inflicted 
a perceptible jar upon it, and, in spite of the blows which his nose must have 
suffered, returning to the combat time after time with undiminished spirit. 
These combats are, however, most common about the breeding season, 
when every adult Stickleback challenges every other of his own sex, and 
they do little but fight from morning to evening. They areas jealous as they 
are courageous, and will not allow another fish to pass within a certain 
distance of their home without darting out and offering battle. 
Anyone may see these spirited little combats by quietly watching the 
inhabitants of a clear streamlet ona summer day. The two antagonists dart 
at each other with spears in rest, snap at each other’s gills or head, and 
retain their grasp with the tenacity of a bull-dog. They whirl round and 
round in the water, they drop, feint, attack, and retreat, with astonishing 
quickness, until one confesses itself 
beaten and makes off for shelter, the 
conqueror snapping at its tail and 
inflicting a parting bite. 
-Then is the time to see the trium- 
phant little creature in all the glory of 
his radiant apparel ; for with his con- 
quest he assumes the victor’s crown ; 
his back glows with shining zreen, his 
sides and head are glorious with gold 
and scarlet, and his belly is silvery 
white. It isa little creature, certainly, 
but even among the brilliant inha- 
bitants of the southern seas a more 
gorgeously-coloured fish can hardly 
be found, If the conqueror Stickle- 
back could only be enlarged to the 
size of a full-grown perch or roach, 
it would excite the greatest admiration. THREE-SPINED STICKT.EBACK.—(Gaste- 
It is curious, that the vanquished rosteus aculeatus.) 
antagonist loses in brillance as much 
as the conqueror has gained ; he sneaks off ignominiously after his defeat, 
and hides himself, dull and sombre, until the time comes when he too may 
conquer in fight, and proudly wear the gold and scarlet insignia of victory. 
These struggles are not only for mastery, but are in so far praiseworthy 
that they are waged in defence of home and family. ; 
The Stickleback is one of the very few fish who build houses for their 
young, as a defence against the many foes which are ever lying in wait for 
the destruction of the eggs or the newly-hatched young. These nests are 
built of various vegetable substances, fastened together with a kind of slime 
that exudes from the body of the male. The Fifteen-spined Stickleback, a 
marine species, also makes a nest, though hardly of so careful a construc- 
tion. 
The Three-spined Stickleback is very fond of inhabiting the mouths of 
rivers where they empty themselves into the sea, the brackish water appear- 
ing to suit its constitution. It can therefore be easily acclimatized to new 
conditions, and a specimen that has been taken from an inland stream can 
soon be brought to inhabit the water of a marine aquarium, though such 
