. Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Institution. Archives; Discoveries in science. 512 PARENTAL CARE AMONG FRESH-WATER FISHES. According to Abbott, the ''courtship of this oaiuly fisli has been no easy matter. Hundreds of his kind, as bright as he, have, like him, striven by the hour to clear the field of every rival, and the clear waters are often turbid with sand and grass torn from the bed of the stream as the older males chase each other from point to point, endeavoring by a successful snap to mutilate each other's fi
. Annual report of the Board of Regents of the Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Institution; Smithsonian Institution. Archives; Discoveries in science. 512 PARENTAL CARE AMONG FRESH-WATER FISHES. According to Abbott, the ''courtship of this oaiuly fisli has been no easy matter. Hundreds of his kind, as bright as he, have, like him, striven by the hour to clear the field of every rival, and the clear waters are often turbid with sand and grass torn from the bed of the stream as the older males chase each other from point to point, endeavoring by a successful snap to mutilate each other's fins. No courtship battles among birds are more earnestly fought, and as the bird with bedraggled feathers is wise enough to withdraw from the contest and quietly seek a mate when his soiled plumage is in ])art restored, so the sunfish with torn fins retires from the contested nest- mrr oround. But not a sound lias l)een made bv tliese excited fishes. Fig. 02.—Coniinnu Siinfish on nest (Ideal). except that of the rippling of the water when cut by their spiny fins as they chanced to reach above the ; Meanwhile the male has selected a spot in very shallow water near the shore, and generally in the midst of aquatic vegetation not too large or close together to entirely exclude the light and heat of the sun, and mostly under an overhanging plant. His olioice is apt to be in the same general stretch of shalloAV water as is favored by many others, so that a number of similar nests may be found close together, although never encroaching on each other, close by the shore. Each fish slightly excavates and makes a saucer-like basin in the chosen area, which is carefully cleared of all pebbles. Such are removed. Please note that these images are extracted from scanned page images that may have been digitally enhanced for readability - coloration and appearance of these illustrations may not perfectly resemble the original Smithsonian Institution. Board of Regents; Unit
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