The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1907-08-29
Many Kinds Of Fish initiate the Birds
Build Nests and Mate Like Feathered Tribe.
Stickleback's Odd Habits bts.........................

Oh ln6 animal klnBuOU WHlcn lnuulbe
in 1t. 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 s
thoughts are centered upon provid-
ing nest. The site selected is gem
/ 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
terial, which he nips off the stalls
= and tugs from out the bottom and
sides of the banks. These he at
I tacbes 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
, strength, rubs himself against the
tiny platform and scrapes the mucus
| from his sides to 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 it's
substance and stability; then more
twists, turns and splashings to test
the flrmness of the foundation.
Collecting Materials.
1.-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 a 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 it 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 wrens nest,
and not unlike it.
Looking For Mate.
GAS soon as the nest is completed
Mr.. Stickleback begins to cast his
eyes around for a 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 amiability 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
mudfsh builds one for his own sal
vation. The rivers which this spe-
cies inhabits are liable to protracted
droughts each year. When such
drought Is imminent the fish retires
to the deeper water and excayates a
pit, in which it 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 well 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 IL is a poor swimmer 1t
spends most of its time clinging to the
floating masses of sargassum weed,
TO rest .on which, from It's peculiar
armlike pectoral fms, 1t is specially
fitted; and the color markings of the
fish closely resemble the weed itself,
so much so, in fact, that it is very
difficult 70 distinguish It, Not only
does the weed thus furnish a home
for this species, but the fish actually
constructs nest from 1t and therein
deposits its eggs. Each nest is made
OF one seaweed; the different 'twigs'
being brought together and made fast
to each other by means of silklike
fibers, probably secreted by the par
ent, as in the sticklebacks The eges