396 



House. They occasionally jump clear of the water, with body ver- 

 tical, head up^ "treading water with the tail." It is a warm, sunny 

 afternoon. 



May 6. Visited the lower end of Sangamon Bay, six miles north 

 of Beardstown, today. Towards noon the mud flats here and at the 

 head of Pluckimen's Slough, several hundred acres in extent, were 

 alive with spawning carp. Probably not less than a thousand fish 

 were spawning. The water is shallow, i to 3 feet deep, and pretty 

 well filled with smartweed, Ceratophyllum, and Potamogeton; also 

 a good deal of live willow. Spawning females, with eggs running, 

 are easily taken with a dip-net. The ''coursing'' of the pairs and trios 

 (one female and one male, or one female and two males) is easily 

 observed, the fish sometimes passing close enough to rub one's boots. 

 The males are always smaller than the female, and swim a little lower, 

 with the nose under her belly, pressed close up against her. The grass 

 and water-weeds are hung with myriads of eggs, from freshly 

 spawmed ones to those nearly ready to hatch. Spawning must have 

 been in progress here for several days. Of the older eggs, it is noted 

 that the per cent, fungused is very small, probably not over 10 per 

 cent. This may be connected with the freshness of the vegetation 

 among which the eggs were spawned. 



May 8. About a hundred carp were seen spawning at the head of 

 Danhole's field today, in water 8 to 10 inches deep, and another hun- 

 dred on the west side of Thompson's Lake, a quarter of a mile above 

 Warner's Cut, in water 2 to 3 feet deep, full of smartweed and 

 "blanket-moss" (Spirogyra and CladopJiora). Small numl>ers were 

 seen spawning at the head of Flag Lake and on the west shore of 

 Thompson's Lake, below the club house. 



Alay 16- 1/. The river has fallen a foot since May i, and is now' 

 two feet below the level of this date last year. Danhole's field is rap- 

 idly drying up. The north end is padded down with a blanket of 

 rotting weeds and pond scum. The only egress for the carp fry is 

 through a small opening into the Crabtree ditch, a quarter of a mile 

 south of the northeast corner of the field. The temperature of water 

 2 to 6 inches deep is 89° to 92° Fahr. 



May 22. Visited Danhole's field to search for carp fry. The field 

 is now almost wholly without water, w'ith the bottom a soft muck, ex- 

 cept for small depressions, i to 3 feet in diameter and occasionally 

 larger, in which water ^ inch to 4 inches deep is still standing. The 

 temperature of the water in these holes is 92°. There are thousands 

 of dead carp fry in recently dried-up holes. In some of the holes with 

 water ^A inch to 3 inches deep w^e found apparently healthy carp, ^ 



