The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1907-08-23
l..any Kinds of Fish Initiate the Birds
Build Nests and Mate Like Feathered Tribe
Stckeback's Odd Habits

"The nest building habit" said a
we'll known naturalist In a recent
lecture, "is generally associated with
birds, but there are other members
of the animal kingdom which indulge
in IT,. Strange TO relate, some OF the
most typical examples are TO be found
among the fishes.
Probably the best known finny
nest builder is the little stickleback,
which is found commonly in brack-
ish water. The male alone is able
TO build a nest. When the mating
season arrives the little bachelors
thoughts are centered upon proyid-
ing a nest. The site selected is gen.
orally among the stems of aquatic
plants, where the water always flows,
but not too swiftly. He first begins
by carrying small bits OF green ma
terlal, which he nips off the stalks
and tugs from out the bottom and
sides OF the banks. These he at
taches by some glutinous material
that he has the power Of secreting
TO the different stems destined as pill
lars for his building. During this
operation he swims against the work
already done, splashes about and
seems to test it's durability and
tiny platform and scrapes the mucus
from his sides 10 use as mortar. Then
he thrusts his nose into the sand at
the bottom, and, bringing up a
mouthful. scatters it over the foun-
dation. This is repeated until
enough has been thrown on to weight
the slender fabric down and give its
substance and stability; then more
twists, turns and splashings to test
the firmness OF the foundation.
Collecting Materials.
"The foundation once complete,
the next operation Is to collect ma
terials, chiefly pieces of straw, roots,
leaves, etc, and build the walls OF
the nest. The nest, or nursery, when
completed, is a hollow, somewhat
rounded, barrel-shaped structure,
worked together much in the same
way as the platform fastened to the
water plants, the whole firmly glued
together.
THE inside of the nest is made as
smooth as possible by kind OF plas-
tering system; the little architect
and builder continually goes In. then
turning round and round works the
mucus from his body on to the inner
sides OF the nest, where 1t hardnes
like tough varnish. Two apertures
are constructed in the nest, one for
ingress and the other for egress.
They are smooth and symmetrical as
the hole leading into a wreu's nest,
and not unlike it.
Looking For -s~ Mate.
"As soon as the nest Is completed
Mr.. Stickleback begins to cast his
eyes around for suitable mate.
Watch him as he swims toward
group OF the fair sex enjoying them
selves amid the water plants. Ar
rayed in his best and brightest livery,
all smiles and amiablity; steadily
and in the most approved style of
stickleback love making this young
bachelor pleads his suit, generally
with success. Then the pair return
to the nest, in which the female de-
posits her eggs, emerging when the
operation is completed by the oppo-
site hole. On the female leaving he
Immediately enters, deposits the milt
on the eggs, taking his departure
through the back door And now
comes the saddest part Of ALL Imme-
diately after leaving the nest he
seeks another lad. love, introduces
her as he did the first and so on. wife
after wife, until the nest is filled with
eggs, layer upon layer. He then de-
votes all his time to guarding the
eggs IN his nest until the young are
hatched out and have attained an age
at which they can shift for them
selves.
Shelter For Dry Shells.
"Nearly all the nest building fishes
construct nests for the purpose Of
holding their eggs, but the African
mudfish builds one for his own SAL
vation The rivers which this spe-
cies inhabits are liable 10 protracted
droughts each year When such a
drought is imminent the fish retires
to the deeper water and excavates a
pit, in which ii lies, covering itself
over with a thick layer OF mud. Thus
sheltered it can suffer the complete
drying up of the river, as being gifted
with lungs as we'll as gills it breathes
air directly through an aperture left
in the top OF the nest The rains OF
the west season dissolve the mud and
liberate the fish. Sometimes these
fish are dug out from their nests and
eaten by the natives. Others have
been shipped thousands of miles in
those nests and when the mud was
dissolved in warmish water the fish
came forth as lively as ever.
1T is doubtful whether protective
mimicry among fishes is better emem-
plified than in the case OF the species
commonly known as the marbled an
gler. AS it is a poor swimmer II
spends most OF its time clinging to the