Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1907-08-31
Many Kinds Of Fish Initiate the Birds
Build Nests and Mate Like Feathered Tribe
Shcklebacks Odd Habits.

beginning OF the breeding season the
fish makes its way from the deeper
water, where 1t has remained slug
gish during the winter, to the spawn
ing ground, which is usually at the
swampy end OF a lake where there is
an abundance of aquatic heritage in
| tersected by channels of clear water.
| Here the fish circles round and
round until the soft weeds and root
let's are bent and crushed aside so as
to leave crude form of nest, where
| the eggs are deposited, adhering to
the nest in enormous numbers. The
male remains on guard until the eggs
are Matched out, when the young APP
pear to leave the nest in a body, still
under the watchful care of the father,
who keeps the swarm together by
clrcling round and round 1t.
One Ingenious Nest.
"The gouraml. or paradise fish,
builds a very ingenious nest. A
muddy bottom is generally selected
for this purpose. The fish prefers to
use for the nest tufts of peculiar
grass, which grows on the surface of
the water and whose floating roots,
rising and falling with the move
ment of the water, form natural gal
leries, under which the fish can con-
ceal themselves. The nest is con-
structed by entangling the stemG and
leaves, intermingled with blades of
grass. and Is OF a nearly spherical
form much resembling In Shope those
of some birds, and when completed
is attached among the plants in one
corner of the pond. After the eggs
have been deposited in the nest both
parents carefully guard 1t for
month, when the young are Matched
out, and then continue their loving
care until the young are large enough
to shift for themselves.
THE wrasses of the Atlantic ocean
also build nests during the breeding
season. These are generally built
in crevices of rocks. The nest is
usually in the shape of a crescent
and is six or seven inches wide at its
widest part, and twelve inches high,
and Is made generally Of tufts of
coraline, seaweed, zoophytes, broken
shells, etc., fixed together at their
bases by a semi-solid mucus. 1t is
the work of both the male and the
female. There is a small opening
leading into the centre of the nest
A very remarkable thing about these
nests is that they are generally built
at half tide mark, which leaves them
exposed to the air at least twelve
hours each day-six hours at tide.
The fish have been seen jumping out
of the water in order to reach the
nests when the tide is rising, but had
not yet reached the nest. 1t was in
this family of fishes that sleep wL3
first observed in fishes, that fish when
in an aquarium seeking a sleeping
place at night and lying down on one
side.
Coolies, which are found in almost
all quarters of the globe, sometimes
build nests. The nest Is usually made
Of some mollusk shell or of the cara
pace of a crab, with the convex side
turned Upward and cov.!ed with
sand. The sand underneath the shell
is followed out and round opening
at the side, coated by a mucus Sc
GREETED by the skin OF the male fish,
gives access to the interior. The
eggs, when ready, are stuck to the
inner surface of the shell forming
the roof
IAN Australian catfish forms !
mound or nest in which to deposit its
eggs. This nest is formed either
sandy grit of pebbles "if the latter
are available" and Is often at least
three feet in diameter. The fish are
said to carry pebbles in their mouths
to the desired spot.
Certain catfishes construct nests
about eight inches by six inches. This
nest, which is always located in a
spot where the water is quiet and
there are plenty of aquatic plants,
has a soft water envelope, and after
the female has deposited her eggs in
1t the male hovers over it, forcing
fresh water through the mass by
rapid vibrations of his fins until after
about q week they are Matched. The
parents jealousy guard the eggs
from all enemies.
Many of the nests are nothing but
shallow holes scooped out of the
sandy bottom by the fms and shouts
of the fishes. Such are the nests of
the black bass and salmon. The lit
tie fresh water 'Miller's Thumb and
the larger marine 'bullheads' deposit
their eggs on stones, weeds or other
submerged objects, or in a sort of
rough nest, and here they are guard
ed by the male. The lumpsuckers,
when the breeding season arrives,
prepare a nest by digging a pit be-
tween two stones at the bottom of a
shallow portion of the sea, in which
the female deposits several hundred
thousand eggs"