No. I.] GAR-PIKE AND STURGEON. J 



be discontinued. The writer notes that spawning occurs not 

 merely "during the heat of the day between 12 and 3 o'clock," ^ 

 but was observed at intervals from 8.30 morning to 7.30 

 night. 



Especial localities have long been noted by the fishermen of 

 Black Lake as favorable spawning grounds of the Gar, and 

 certain particular shore spots or "points," often of but a few 

 feet in diameter, as those in Upper and Lower Deep Bays, 

 have been found year after year, to receive the first eggs 

 deposited during the season. Later, when the height of the 

 breeding season arrives, the fish may be seen spawning on 

 almost every shore of the lake. "Points" at which early 

 spawning occurs are hardly such as the term usually implies. 

 They are little more than rocky shore strips, or rather particu- 

 lar portions, two or three yards in diameter, of a rocky shore. 

 They are by no means prominent, nor are their rough rock 

 fragments cleaner apparently than those of a part of the shore 

 but a few yards away. There are thus but three spots in 

 Lower Deep Bay where the eggs of the Gar are deposited, 

 although the natural characters of the rocky shore are appar- 

 ently uniform from the mouth to the head of the bay. 



The behavior of the fish when spawning is worthy of especial 

 note. When approaching the shore they are seen to be already 

 divided into parties, each female readily recognized by her larger 

 size (about 3 ft. 6 in. ; 4 ft. 6 in.), attended by several males 

 (from two to eight). All are pressed closely together, and in 

 the slow advance and circlings of the party scarcely a move- 

 ment can be detected. The snouts of the males, lighter in 

 color, probably in sexual coloration, may be seen pressed under 

 rather than over the sides of the female. All fins are spread, 

 dorsals and anals widely erect, the former, together with the 

 upper half of the tail, often protruding from the water and rec- 

 ognizable several rods from shore. The fish in the meanwhile 

 enter very shallow water (five or six inches), so shallow in fact 

 that the backs of the spawning fish are sometimes exposed. 

 The arrival of the fish is followed by a period of quiescence ; 

 then after slowly moving to and fro, circling nearer and further 



^ Beard, ref. 6. 



