16 



THE GAME BREEDER 



is hard the nest is fiequently a shallow 

 basin that does not much exceed the 

 length of the fish. 



After the male has the nest completed 

 he begins to search for a mate. In case 

 he finds one before the nest is com- 

 pleted the female usually helps with the 

 work of completing the home. We have 

 seen both fish working on the nest be- 

 fore the spawning was commenced. A 

 completed nest is one ready to receive 

 the eggs. Such a nest has all the soft 

 mud and debris removed. This the fish 

 accomplished chiefly by the use of its 

 fins, especially the tail fin, though the 

 fish is not averse to grabbing certain 

 kinds of material that is in the way in 

 its mouth and removing it. The nest 

 as completed in the ponds here at the 

 Hatchery is usually fairly well lined with 

 the roots and stems of water plants that 

 naturally grow in such places. In some 

 nests there is a sufficient amount of 

 growing roots and stems of these plants 

 to completely cover the bottom of the 

 structure. Examination showed that 

 nearly all of these roots and stems were 

 attached to the earth and were green, 

 and are not loose pieces of stuff resting 

 on the bottom of the nest. 



The male fish drives away all intrud- 

 ers, including other fish, whether large 

 or small, dashing ferociously at any ani- 

 mal, friend or foe, that may come in that 

 particular locality. Even though com- 

 pleted, the male fish spends much time 

 over the nest fanning it with its fins, 

 apparently to keep the nest bed fresh and 

 clean, until a mate has been chosen and 

 the spawning and hatching season is 

 over. 



After the nest has been finished, as 

 above described, by the male fish, he 

 retires at short intervals, making many 

 near about excursions apparently in 

 search of a mate, and within a day or 

 two, if you take the trouble to visit and 

 watch the place at various times, you 

 will see two fish swimming about the 

 nest. During these excursions it is nec- 

 essary for the builder of the nest to 

 leave it for short intervals. At such 

 times other fish seem to take fiendish 

 delight in swimming over, around and 



about the nest. However, when the 

 owner returns he immediately gives, hot 

 chase to all such intruders and meddlers. 

 We have seen two fish which we took 

 for males, chasing each other and ap- 

 parently contending for the ownership 

 of a nest. 



The male, which is usually the smaller 

 fish of a pair, continues his search as 

 stated above for a partner until he finds 

 a female that is willing to visit his newly- 

 made quarters and examine the home 

 and nest that he has prepared. If she 

 likes the situation and is pleased with 

 the homestead she remains at the nest, 

 and usually works upon it a while her- 

 self, putting on certain finishing touches. 

 Now the male becomes very active and 

 jealous ; he swims here and there and 

 continually guards the female; he takes 

 on the courage and ferocity of a warrior 

 and dashes at any other fish that may 

 come near ; he heads off with great dex- 

 terity any move that would indicate that 

 the female wanted to leave the premises. 

 If the female is satisfied, or as soon as 

 she becomes satisfied, the pair will swim 

 around and around over the nest and in 

 its immediate neighborhood, frequently 

 moving side by side. In one instance 

 observed this summer the male fish 

 seemed to butt up against the side of 

 the female with his head and shoulder, 

 and would throw the female on her s^ide. 

 The two fish would frequently strike the 

 sides of their bodies together, and 

 whirl and turn in different directions, 

 making various grotesque maneuvers. 



After a courtship of this kind, which 

 may last for one or more days, the fe- 

 male begins to deposit her eggs in the 

 nest. At this time the male is very ac- 

 tive, swimming around the female and 

 half knocking her over with his head 

 and shoulder, and when the eggs are de- 

 posited he ejects his milt in the water 

 immediately over or above them. In 

 this manner, without any act of copula- 

 tion, the eggs are fertilized. While this 

 spawning business is going on. the fish 

 are usually in from one to three feet of 

 water and in quick motion. We have 

 watched them until we were dizz)'' try- 

 ing to see and figure out just \yhat took 



