32 Bass, Pike, and Perch 



greatly esteemed both as a game-fish and food- 

 fish. 



The coloration of the large-mouth bass is often 

 of the same hue as the small-mouth bass, though 

 usually it is not so dark, being mostly bronze- 

 green, fading to white on the belly. When mark- 

 ings are present, they tend to form longitudinal 

 streaks of aggregated spots, and not vertical ones, 

 as in the small-mouth. 



Its habits of feeding, spawning, etc., are very 

 similar to those of the small-mouth. It prefers 

 stiller water, and is more at home in weedy 

 situations, and will thrive in quiet, mossy ponds 

 with muddy bottom where the small-mouth would 

 eventually become extinct; on the other hand, 

 the large-mouth can exist wherever it is possible 

 for the small-mouth to do so. It is better able 

 to withstand the vicissitudes of climate and tem- 

 perature, and has a wonderful adaptability that 

 enables it to become reconciled to its environ- 

 ment. The feeding habits of the two black- 

 basses are much the same, though they differ as 

 to their haunts. The large-mouth favors weedy 

 rather than rocky places, and though its food is 

 also much the same, the large-mouth is per- 

 haps more partial to frogs and minnows, in the 



