THE STRIPED BASS. 



the deepest waters, and never become torpid until they are benumbed by 

 the cold, when they sink to the bottom, and possibly rest on a bed of mud. 

 It is easy, however, to understand that individuals may occasionally be 

 penned up in this way. Mr. Genio C. Scott is responsible for the state- 

 ment that the ponds formed by the back water of the Seconnet River, in 

 Rhode Island, were one winter so full of Striped Bass that they were dis- 

 covered by their dorsal fins projecting from the ice wdiere they had been 

 frozen by too close packing. Most of our Bass doubtless avoid such igno- 

 minious captivity as this by retreating to the deeper parts of the sea, or 

 the rivers, where they remain in a state of partial activity, at least, and 

 have occasional opportunity for feeding. Since 1875 there have come to 

 my notice instances of their capture in Long Island and Block Island 

 Sounds, and in the Merrimac River in December, in Martha's Vineyard 

 Sound and the lower part of Hudson River in January. Chesapeake Bay 

 and the Potomac yield considerable quantities all winter. In the rivers of 

 New Brunswick quantities of them are speared through holes in the ice, as 

 they lie close to the bottom. 



The Bass are most voracious feeders. When in the rivers they prey upon 

 small fishes, which are always a favorite, and at this time their exclusive 

 diet. C. C. Abbott, once saw a Bass, a foot in length, devour a dozen 

 silver-finned minnows in four minutes. "A Rock-fish," writes he. " will 

 frequently corner up a small school of minnows, and then pick them up as 

 rapidly and easily as a fowl will pick up grains of corn, and while devour- 

 ing them will keep them in a small place, close together, all the time." 

 They also frequent the surf along the ocean beaches, and near rocky 

 shores at high tide, hunting for crabs, shrimps, squids, and other inverte- 

 brate animals. 



Oppian and /Elian tell astounding stories about European Bass, and how 

 they choked themselves to death with their prey. 



"The Lupus's foible," writes Badham, " is an inordinate greediness 

 which, w^hen choice fish can be obtained, renders all his cunning of no 

 avail ; and his death is often brought about by means of a very insignifi- 

 cant enemy." 



They spawn in the late spring and early in the summer, some of them 

 in the rivers, others probably at sea, although this has not been definitely 

 ascertained. The European Bass are said to deposit their spawn near the 

 mouths of rivers, in the summer months. From North Carolina to New 



