. The pet book. Pets. THE SUNFISH HE boy who pulls a gamey, fighting pumpkin seed from the water shoiild put him in the aquarium, instead of eating him, for he is a most interesting fish. First of all, he is beautiful; his body is cross-striped with dark, dull, green- ish or purplish bands, worked out in fish-scale embroidery; and alternated with these bands are others of gleaming pale green, beset with black-edged orange spots, while the body below is brassy yellow. As he swims about, shimmering blue, green and purple tints play over him. The sunfish has large and prominent eyes, the black pu
. The pet book. Pets. THE SUNFISH HE boy who pulls a gamey, fighting pumpkin seed from the water shoiild put him in the aquarium, instead of eating him, for he is a most interesting fish. First of all, he is beautiful; his body is cross-striped with dark, dull, green- ish or purplish bands, worked out in fish-scale embroidery; and alternated with these bands are others of gleaming pale green, beset with black-edged orange spots, while the body below is brassy yellow. As he swims about, shimmering blue, green and purple tints play over him. The sunfish has large and prominent eyes, the black pupil being surrounded by an iris of lavender and bronze. There is an ear-like flap extending back above the gill-opening, which is as great an ornament as a brooch, or an eardrop. It is greenish black in color, bordered by shining blue-green, with a prominent orange spot in its hind edge. The sunfish is often called "Pumpkin-seed," or "Tobacco-box," but he really ought to be called "Indian Chief," for when his dorsal fin is raised, it looks like the headdress of a chieftan. The male sunfish is especially beautiftil in the spring; it is then he goes wooing, and needs his gay clothes in order to win his mate. First of all he builds him a charming little nest in shallow water near the shore, well hidden by pond plants. He digs out the pebbles and sand, making a saucer- like basin; sometimes the nest is lined with the natural sand, and sometimes with the rootlets of water plants. In diameter the nest is about twice the length of the fish. 241. 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 Comstock, Anna Botsford, 1854-1930; Lord, Henry B. ins; Wright, Albert Hazen, 1879-1970 ins; Comstock, Anna Botsford, 1854-1930. ins. Ithaca, N. Y. : Comstock
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License: Licensed
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Keywords: ., bookauthorcomstockannabotsford1, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910
