386 SEVENTH REPORT OF THE FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. f 



Havre de Grace, Md., in May. These were taken in the Susquehanna and Tidewater 

 Canal, where the species is becoming rather abundant. The food of the Calico Bass 

 consists of worms, small crustaceans and fishes. Though a native of deep, sluggish 

 waters of western rivers and lakes, it readily adapts itself to cold, rapid streams and 

 thrives even in small brooks. The species is suitable also for pond life and may be 

 kept in small areas of water provided they have sufficient depth. It does not prey 

 on other fishes, and its numerous stiff spines protect it from larger predaceous 

 species. It swims in large schools and is often found in comparatively shoal water. 

 The nest-building habits have been described by Duclos from observations made at 

 Versailles, France. This writer unfortunately had under observation both the Calico 

 Bass and the Common Sunnsh, and his statements need confirmation. The game 

 qualities of this bass are noteworthy. It is a free, vigorous biter ; its endurance is 

 rather remarkable considering its size. As a food fish the species is highly prized, 

 and its increase in eastern rivers is greatly to be desired. 



ROCK BASS. 



99. Rock Bass; Red-eye (Ambloplitcs rupestris Rafinesquc). 



Centrarchus acnens DEK.AY, N. Y. Fauna, Fishes, 27, pi. 2, fig. 4, 1842, Lake Champlain; 



Great Lakes ; streams of Western New York ; Hudson River. 

 Ambloplites rupestris BEAN, Fishes Penna., 105, color pi. 10, 1893; JORDAN & EVERMANN, 



Bull. 47, U. S. Nat. Mus., 990, 1896, pi. CLVI, figs. 419, A, B, C; MEEK, Ann. N. Y. 



Ac. Sci., IV, 313, 1898; EUGENE SMITH, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. Y. for 1897, 33, 1898; 



MEARNS, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., X, 319, 1898; BEAN, 52d Ann. Kept. N. Y. 



State Mus., 104, 1900. 



Color olive green with a brassy tinge and much dark mottling; the young are 

 pale or yellowish, irregularly barred and blotched with black ; adults with a dark 



