Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/39

Rh springs furiously at the hand, and is easily seized.

Mr. Audubon has described, in his peculiarly graphic style, the nest-making habits and parental devotedness of a fish found in the rivers of North America, which he calls the Sunny, or Sun-perch, but which appears to be a small species of Labrus.

"The Sun-perch seems to give a decided preference to sandy, gravelly, or rocky beds of streams, avoiding those of which the bottom is muddy. At the period of depositing their eggs, this preference is still more apparent. The little creature is then seen swimming rapidly over shallows, the bed of which is mostly formed of fine gravel, when, after a while, it is observed to poise itself, and gradually sink to the bottom, where, with its fins, it pushes aside the sand to the extent of eight or ten inches, thus forming a circular cavity. In a few days, a little ridge is thus raised around, and in the cleared area the roe is deposited. By wading carefully over the extent of the place, a person may count forty, fifty, or more of these beds, some within a few feet of each other, and some several yards apart. Instead of abandoning its spawn, as others of the family are wont to do, this little fish keeps guard over it with all the care of a sitting bird. You observe it poised over the bed, watching the objects around. Should the rotten leaf of a tree, a piece of wood, or any other substance happen to be rolled over the border of the bed, the Sun-fish carefully removes it, holding the obnoxious matter in its mouth, and dropping it over the margin. Having many times witnessed this act of