64 
THE LIVING WORLD. 
tends the building, going backward and forward with the male, but no one, 
so far as I have been able to learn, has ever witnessed her in the act of 
depositing her eggs. 
That she performs this 
most important part, 
however, is evidenced by 
the fact that the young 
have been observed 
issuing from the nest 
in great numbers. 
The Lamprey Eel 
is found in nearly -all 
the waters of the north 
and south temperate 
zones, though so retir¬ 
ing are its habits that 
few persons are acquain¬ 
ted with its character¬ 
istics. Much as I have 
fished in American 
streams, from Maine to 
California, I never met 
with but a single speci¬ 
men. While hunting 
along the foot-hills on 
the Missouri River, in 
Dakota, I stopped at a 
ranch where the keeper 
had just caught a large 
catfish, and discovered attached to the fish’s side 
a lamprey about twelve inches in length. The 
sight was such an unusual one that the man was 
much frightened, and was upon the point of aban¬ 
doning the fish, lest the strange animal might 
attack him. A knowledge gained by reading books 
of natural history taught me at once what the 
creature was, and at my solicitation the ranchman 
permitted me to retain the fish and its singular 
prey. It required considerable force to detach the 
lamprey, and when its hold was broken it seized 
upon the first thing in its way, which was a tin 
scoop, and this the creature held on to with great 
tenacity. At the point where it had fastened upon 
the fish the skin had been perforated, from which 
blood flowed some time after, showing what a drain 
upon the circulation had been established by the 
powerful suction. 
Lampreys seem to be a connecting link between the eel and blood-leech, 
the organs by which it is enabled to apply such suctorial force being almost 
NEST OF THE PIRAYA. 
