THE HASSAR, OR HARDBACK. 397 



To the naturalist, however, the chief point of interest in these 

 fish is the fact that they are in the habit of constructing nests 

 which are quite as well formed as those of the stickleback, and 

 are niade of grass-blades, straws, and leaves. These nests are very 

 plentiful in the little muddy streamlets that intersect the sugar 

 marshes, so that the habits of the fish can be easily watched. 

 The parent fish is very jealous of the eggs, and waits near them 

 until they are hatched, and the young family committed to the 

 water. The natives are well aware of this habit, and catch the 

 fish readily by insinuating a net or even a basket under the wa- 

 ter near a nest, and then raising it quickly, when the parent fish 

 is mostly found in the net. 



Perhaps the most curious part of the economy of this fish is the 

 fact that the nest is not placed in the water, but in a muddy hole 

 just above the surface. This habit, however, accords with the 

 qualities of the fish, which is remarkably independent of water^ 

 and can travel over land from one pond to another, led by some 

 mysterious instinct, which we of higher powers can not compre- 

 hend. During the dry season .the Hassar is in the habit of bur- 

 rowing into the mud, and there residing until the welcome rain 

 sets it free: Those who Enow the customs of the fish are there- 

 fore able to procure it at almost any period of the year, digging 

 for it in the dry season, and fishing for it in the wet months. 



CHAPTER XX. 



SUB-AQUATIC NESTS. INVERTEBRATES. 



A Pool and its Wonders.— The Watee Spider.— Its sub-aquatic Nest.— Convey- 

 ance of Air to the Nest.— -The Diving-bell anticipated. — Character of the Air in 

 the Nest. — Mr. Bell's Experimentsupon the Spider.— Life of the Water Spider. — 

 The Htdeachna.^ — The Caddis Flies and their Characteristics. — Sub-aquatic 

 Homes of the Larva.— Singular Varieties of Form and Material.— Life of a Cad- 

 dis. — Description of Nests in my own Collection. — Fixed Cases, and Modification 

 of Larva.— Singular Materials for Nest-building.— Cobals and their general His- 

 tory. — ^The Coral of Commerce. — ^Development and Extension of the Coral. — 

 How fresh Colonies are founded. — Various Corals and their Growth. — Submarine 

 Tube-makers. — The SeepuL/E and tbeir general Habits. — ^The Operculum of the 

 Serpula. — The TBREBELLiE and their submarine Houses. — The Caddis Sheimp. 

 — Remarkable Analogy. 



When I was a very little boy, I was accustomed to spend much 

 time on the banks of the Cherwell, and used to amuse myself by 

 watching the various inhabitants of the water. Animal life is 



