Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1884-08-10

| watches over them until they are hatched'
| Then the young fasten themselves by
| their suckers to the mother, and are so
| carried about. later following her like a
I brood of chickens. This habit OF follow
! ing the mother Is rarely observed among
/ fishes. but is a trait of the catfish, the
/ young Of which follow 1t In regular
/ swarm.
zone of the most interesting of the
I nest-builders is the lamprey eel, common
/ in many of our Eastern waters. In this
| case the male and female both attend to
| the work, which can readily be observed
/ in running streams. The nest is made up
of stones, that the cells collect from far
and near with their suckeT-like mouths.
They swim up against the current, fasten
upon stone, and make no attempt to
drag it, merely lifting 1t from the bottom
1 by cOnvulsive movement, the current
moving il down stream toward the loca-
ton selected for the nest. II the pebble
is too heavy. perhaps both cells will take
hold, lifting together, until finally the
stone is deposited on a pile of others.
This is carried on until a heap perhaps
three feet high is collected, and among
them the eggs are deposited and guarded,
the young fish, that do not resemble their
parents, living in their castle for long
time.
1.-The nest of the striped dace, a fresh
fishes form it by collecting small pebbles,
which they carry in their mouths and
drop one upon another until quite a heap
is the result. Among these the eggs are
deposited and the young reared.
FISNY "sTONE LUGGERs."
''The fishes commonly known as suckers
found In many streams-have a similar
way of making a home, and, from the habit
Of carrying stones in their mouths, are
called stone tOters,' stone luggers,' etc.
The common pond fish is a famous nest
builder. In the early spring their opera
lions can be watched from a boat, the
nests being generally formed near shore.
often several fishes are to be observed
{ clearing away the sticks and grasses at
the bottom, carrying them some distance
away in their mouths. This work accom-
/ plished, a slight depression is made or
! sCOOped out in the sand and in it the eggs
/ deposited, about which the vines and buds
i of the pond lily cling, while overhead will
4 perhaps be a perfect canopy of rich flow
/ ers, so that the nest is a perfect bower. L
I have seen as many as ten different nests
in a space Of ten square feet, the different
/ owners swimming about as if having per-
I feet faith in the good intentions Of their
/ neighbOrs. They have an enemy, how
/ ever, in the pirate perch, that often COM
I pletely rOuts them and uses the nest for
! its own purposes. All the sun fishes are
nest-builders. one species building in
Z winter, when the streams are frozen
| over.
4 sin Eastern waters the famous black
/ gOby, that can live hours out Of water,
erects a nest of the sea-weed SdSterd, ana
another fish, known scientifically as the
ADbiOceDhgluS, eTects a complicated
structure in which its young are reared.
'.AmOng the South American cattishes
a number form rude Teceptacles for their
eggs, and others have curious sacs on
their bodies to hold their young. On the
Amazon and IFS tributaries many Of the
border trees are hung with vines called
leciHeS, that grow out over the water,
drop down, and, as the end meets the
stream. take root and grow. In the ten
drills floating matter from up the stream
becomes caught, and soon floating gar
den is the result. Under these a little
fish called the perae takes its place dur
ing the breeding season, and here the eggs
are placed.
1.-The giant CeradOtus, recently discOv-
cred in Australia and famous for its dry
land journeys, builds nest in the sand
quite as perfect as that of some birds.
So with the prOtOpterus, which forms
nest, and, curiOusly enough, when the
dry season comes. burrows in the mud,
forming a case lined with a secretion that
hardens like plaster, and in which cell
the fish hibernates until the water comes
again. These curious cases have been
taken to Europe, and there soaked out,
after a long journey in closely packed