the Stickleback. He likes to use a "ready-made" house, whereas the
Stickleback finds his own "bricks and mortar." In the pools of the shore
there is no lack of houses to let, the empty homes of shell-fish are
there in plenty. So the little Goby, when nesting time comes, hunts
round for the empty shell of a Cockle lying with its hollow side to the
sand.

This shell is to be used as the roof for the nursery. The Goby's next
task is to make a hole beneath the shell. He sets to work and, by
scooping out the sand, makes a hole about as large as a marble. To keep
the sand from tumbling in, he smears the hole with slime, which soon
binds hard like mortar. Now the nursery is nearly ready; but a
passage-way is made, passing under the edge of the shell, and then, to
make things quite safe, the whole roof is covered with sand: it then
looks more like a bump in the sand than a fish-nursery.

The female Goby enters the nest, and leaves her eggs in it; and then the
little father fish is left in charge. He rests on the sand, near the
entrance. When the little ones appear, he seems to think he has done his
duty. So away, he swims, not staying, like the father Stickleback, to
guard the youngsters. Again we see that the father, and not the mother,
is the builder and nurse.

[Illustration: CORALS OF MANY KINDS.]

That very strange creature, the Pipe-fish, has the most peculiar nursery
of all. He uses no building material! No made-up nest of weed or sand
for him! No, he prefers to carry his eggs in his pocket. To be more
exact, there is a small pouch under his body, and there the eggs are
kept until they hatch. Meanwhile, the Pipe-fish goes about his affairs
in the pool as if nothing particular had happened. You will see more
about this funny little fish when we come to our lesson on "The Fish of
our Rock-pools."

EXERCISES

1. What are the eggs of the Skate and the Dog-fish like? 2. How does the
Sea-stickleback build his nest? 3. Where would you find the Sand Goby,
the Pipe-fish, and the Sea-stickleback? 4. How does the Sand Goby build
its nest?

LESSON V

THE OGRE OF THE DEEP

The ogre of the fairy-tale is bad enough, but, for evil looks, the
Octopus is worse still. With his tough, brownish skin, knobbed like the
toad's back, his large staring eyes, his parrot's beak, and ugly bag of
a body, the Octopus is a horrid-looking creature. Add to this eight long
arms twisting and writhing like snakes, and you have an idea of t