, 1860-08-02

a EIAfA7A NcAI anu " HUI "As Al 1ts
A correspondent Of the New York Comnar'
eiaz siyes . graphic account Of the habits of
pair Of st,ck!cbacks in his aquarium, and Of the
general appearance Of his murine museum. Lie
says:
About mouth ago the male sticklebacks be-
gan to assume very brilliant colors-a Te.mil-
lion red underneath, md deep sea green on
the back-and then to form nests in the sea
lettuce, and the females spawned. Far day
OF two the nests were yiguntly watch=d 81 the
males, but subsequently abandoned. Suspect"
ing that the hermit crnbs had been tlibus'eripg
among them, removed those gentlemen froEl
the tank, with everything else likely to disturb
the interesting process l IVES anxious to Oh.
serve leaving in it, in fact, only the nctlEl.e and
u few shrimps and sea-snails.
then procured another pair Of stick}ebarks
from the museum, the female being nearly
spawning. Within swenty- -four hours The mails
was busy in his pleasant work Of nest-nakiug,
bis little body glowin:, with ytrmilion aud n,l
the hues Of the rainbow, aud / eau describe
from personal observation fact in natural histo.
II, which but for the aquarium could never
have been known.
and the whole duty desolgts upon the male.
The construction occupied hun t<o days. His
activity VAS wonderful. Tn the third day,
Judged by the actions Of both 6shes that the
nest was completed and the moment Of spawn
ing at hand. The operinx in the mast wa not
quit so large as three cent piscs. Taking 4
last survey OF the new domicit, the ma!e then
drove the female into it, ard she remained
there about seventy seconds
When she entered the nest the excitement OF
the male was 50 inteute that his back changed
from dark green to pure silver. The mo-
ment she had passed through the nest and came
ou. deuuded Of her spawn, his co!ors Resumed
f1afr fill E+i1 ha RH l.
II in adding 6b1es vi el,weed to the nest, car
rying them in his mouth, adjusting them with
the utmost care, and keeping them IN place W
the aid OF rarticcs OF grasel diligently collect
ed from the bottom oil the tank.
should like to picture before ycuF readers
my aquarium Us it now appears; Ihe Tater
is US transparent Is light. The brown rocks
and bright green sea: l.ttree finely contrast
with each other. The actin!a-white, red, hnu
brown-are in fnll bloon,, the delicate lace "oIk
of their doresceEce expanded. ShElnps. wita
their beautifully transparent to1ns, are care,
lessly travelin. across the area OF toe TANK. hna
Mr. Stick!eback "ftom rosy mo, to dewy eve,
is inceasanHY Iarting into the miniature caves,
searching for anamalcu.A or email erastacea,
radiant with yermilliou and blue and emerald,
bis eyes glowing like carbuncies, and ever and
anon lowering ever his nest, a. humnlng-
bird datsers around flower, and wos to the
stray shrimp that approaches That SACRED aud
well guarded spot In fifteen days expect to
seq .hoal Of Joung sticklcbacks in his COM
pany.
In subsequent communication, the writer
continued his interesting description Is fol-
lows:
In the account Of my saltwater aquarium,
which you deemed Of sufficient interest to pub:
l1sh, mentioned that in about fifteen days
expected 10 huye shoal Of sticklebacks. They
came sooner than l expected. The nest was
disturbed accidentally On the fourteenth day
aftet the female spawued. aud your correspond
ent anticipated that his experiment b result
ed in failure. Bettet luck awaited me, how
ever- l perceived on the morning following
the accident that the male stickieback still
hovered round the spot, that his gorgeous col
ors were increased IN hrildaucy, and that be
was extraordinarily excited aud v1gilant-
II even q stray scall came nesz his shattered
nest he would seizs it by the feshy part, carry
it across the tank and angrily throw it into the
most distant corner; and woe 10 the luckleas
shrimp that dared to come within aix inches Of
his demolished domiciI, While to touch the
outside Of the glass wall with the finger WAS
to throw him into frenzy of prgnacious-
ness.
Therefore took magnifying glass and be.
gan careful examination Of the locality Of the
broken nest. and confess to sharing sona-
what in the excitement Of ny little fTlend Of tho