FOREST, LAKE, AND RIVER 



former is often seen out of the water. The two 

 fish take a circle of about one hundred yards, and 

 move along side by side, when suddenly they 

 make the water fly by a spasmodic movement last- 

 ing two or three minutes ; then they stop for a 

 while, and again move on, then begin splashing. 

 This they keep up for several hours. It is sup- 

 posed that when splashing about the eggs are 

 scattered promiscuously, and this is the object of 

 their erratic movements. In many waters, notably 

 in Chautauqua Lake, New York, the mascalonge 

 makes its nest on muddy bottoms, and in some 

 lakes they seek the shallow reedy places. 



The pike, Lucius lucius, and the pickerels have 

 very similar habits to those of the mascalonge. 

 They spawn in April and May, and in some local- 

 ities earlier. The number of ova contained in a 

 five-pound pike will range upward to 100,000, 

 and nearly 300,000 have been taken from a fish 

 of thirty pounds. They select spawning places 

 similar in character to those used by mascalonge, 

 and lie along the edges, or within them, of the 

 vegetation around the shores of lakes and streams, 

 darting at their prey with great speed and greedi- 

 ness; and, when hooked, fight fiercely in their long 

 and deep surges, but never, unlike the mascalonge, 

 coming into the air with frantic leaps for freedom. 



8 



