FISH AND THEIR NESTS 
35 
aquatic plants; but those of the marine 
fifteen-spined stickleback, or sea-adder, as it 
is sometimes called, are the most remarkable 
of all. The eggs are deposited by the female 
in the midst of some growing seaweed. The 
male then folds the branches around the ova, 
binding them up into an oval or pear-shaped 
mass by means of a gelatinous and somewhat 
elastic thread that he spins. This thread, 
which is no thicker than a strand of the finest 
silk, and quickly hardens when exposed to 
the action of the water, is woven in and out, 
and encircles the seaweed in all directions so 
that the eggs remain secure until the young 
are hatched ; the father watching over them 
until that event takes place. 
The goby is another fish found around our 
shores that is in the habit of providing a shelter 
or nest for the accommodation of its eggs. 
The male selects a cockle shell and, placing 
the convex side uppermost, proceeds to fix 
the lower edge to the sand by applying a 
secretion yielded from his skin that forms a 
cement. He then excavates a little tunnel 
leading beneath the shell, and renders the nest 
invisible to prying eyes by covering it over 
with a layer of sand. Within this novel home 
the female deposits her eggs, fixing them 
firmly to the interior of the shell. The male 
