The Sunfisb Family 69 



family as gardener and hostler, taught me to tie 

 a fly and cast it with a willow wand when but 

 five years of age. At the feet of that Gamaliel 

 in corduroy I imbibed a love of angling that has 

 constantly grown with the lapse of years. But 

 increased knowledge of fishes and a wider experi- 

 ence in angling have not lessened my affection 

 for my first love — the "sunny." This acknowledg- 

 ment is due one of the humblest and least im- 

 portant, but also one of the prettiest species of 

 the finny tribe. 



THE COMMON SUNFISH 



(^Eiipomotis gibbosus) 



This is the pumpkin-seed or "sunny" of fra- 

 grant memory. It is enshrined in the heart of 

 many an American angler as his first love, when 

 with pin hook, thread line, and willow wand he 

 essayed its capture in the nearest brook or mill- 

 pond. 



Looking backward over an angling career of 

 half a century, the gamesome "sunny" with its 

 coat of many colors shines out as a bright par- 

 ticular star among those of greater magnitude. 

 It is here set down, then, mainly as a matter of 

 sentiment and to keep its memory green. 



