with prey. After two hours had elapsed, the tails of the 

 victims liad disappeared into the maws of their devourers. 



The strenijth of the Pike is ftilly prop()rlioiiat(^ to 

 its size and \oraeity. We liave just seen that a Pike 

 can come off vietoriouslj' from a hattle witli a Salmon 

 of its own size; but Ekstrom adduces" a more singular 

 proof of its powers. In the back of a Pike that did 

 not weigii more than 8' ., kilo., he found tlie skeleton 

 of an osprey {Fandlon haJiuefiis), wliieh had rasiily 

 attacked tlu; tish, but been draNvn into the depths and 

 drowned. Similar tales are told of sea eagles that 

 have perished in the attempt to capture and carrj' off 

 the Pike. 



Tiiough not very tenacious of life, the Pike may 

 be kejit alive for a long time in a well, especially 

 if it has some smaller tish to prey on, for it re- 

 tains its rajiaciousness even in captivity. In contra- 

 distinction to other tishes, it continues to feed during 

 the spawning-season. On the 9th of June, 189.^), we 

 purchased in Stockholm a gravid female 4' ., dm. long 

 stronglv distended' by the ovaries, which were quite 

 ripe, and voided the eggs at the least pressure. In 

 tlie stomach, however, laj' a Roach 12 cm. long, only 

 the head of which had digested. 



The s])awning is of long duration, its season de- 

 pending on the age of the fisli. The young spawn 

 first. When they have finished, the middle-aged Pike 

 begin, and last of all the oldest and largest. In spring, 

 before there is open water in the lakes, the Pike com- 

 mences to ascend towards the shores. A tradition, handed 

 down among the fishermen of Central Sweden from 

 time immemorial and still surviving, states that on 

 St. Gregory's Day (March 12th) the Pike turns its 

 head towards the shore, and on St. Gertrude's Day 

 ' (March 17th) l)egins its ascent. It repairs to those 

 parts of the shore where streams and brooks fall into 

 I the inlets, rendering them in the Swedish fisherman's 

 parlance laiidlosn (Inndless). The Pike that arrive first 

 are known as Gertrude's or Ice Pike. A great por- 

 tion of the roe they deposit is probably destroyed, 

 for it is often committed to the open lake, where it 

 is exposed to so many dangers. When the spring is 

 so far advanced that the lakes are ice-free, the brooks 

 clear, and the low-lying meadows round the shore 

 under water, the larger Pike make their wav to these 



B. 100.5 



iiumdated places, and begin to spawn. As this gene- 

 rally coincides with the pairing-time of the frog, the 

 Pik(! that bi'eed at this season are called Fro-r/dddor 

 or Gloss-tjiiddor, from Kail fro and Glossa, names ap- 

 plied by the peasantry to the frog (Rana temporaria). 

 They are also known as Grds-(/uddor (Grass Pike) 

 and Arifis-fiaddor (Meadow Pike), from the nature of 

 tlieir spawning-place. Last of all come the largest 

 Pike. These usually begin to breed at the end of 

 ^lay, when the ti'ces arc in leaf, and several flowers 

 in bloom ; and are hence called Lof-gdddor (Leaf Pike) 

 or Blomsfer-gdddor (Flower Pike). They are few in 

 number, like the Ice Pike, and spawn in water of 

 some depth within weedy inlets. The earliest Pike, 

 which are often of a l)rassy yellow colour, also bear 

 the name of Messiiit/s-fjdddor (Brass Pike). The some- 

 what older fish are known, on account of their slender 

 form, as Ld>if/sfjert-i/ddd(>r (Long-tailed Pike), and the 

 oldest, with their thicker l)ody, as Kortstjert-gdddnr 

 (Short-tailed Pike). 



The further north the Pike has its home, the 

 later is the spawning-season. In the Tornea Elf the 

 Pike does not breed until the middle of June. The 

 Frd-gddda or Grds-gddda ahvays spawns in shallow 

 water; and as the breeding fish are neither timid nor 

 massed in numbers at the same place, they may be 

 closely observed. The females, which are always larg- 

 est, come first, each attended by two or three, seldom 

 four males. The female swims so high in the shallow 

 water that, when the weather is calm, the surface is 

 faintly rippled by her movements. Now and then the 

 dorsal and caudal fins may be seen above the surface. 

 As soon as the female halts, the males approach and 

 surround her, one on eacli side, and. if there are 

 more than two, one under the tail and another above 

 the back. They rub themselves against her body, 

 during which operation she keeps still, only moving 

 the fins. After a while she disperses the males with 

 a sudden lash of her body, and darts to another 

 point, where the same operation is renewed. Mean- 

 while she deposits on the grassy bottom the yellowish 

 and coarse-grained roe, which is impregnated by the 

 milt. In a Pike weighing 6 German pounds (2*/5 

 kilo.) Block counted 136,500 ova; in a female weigh- 

 ing 28 lbs. avoirdujiois (12'7 kilo.), and with ovaries 



Vet.-Akii.l. H.inai. 1831, p. 79. 



The greatest deptli 21 % of the length of the body. 



