No. I.] GAR-PIKE AND STURGEON. 5 



longer than three and a half inches ; young perch and sun- 

 fish, abundant in the locality, do not appear to be eaten. The 

 number of small fishes each Gar had taken was especially large 

 and fully justifies the idea of the fish's rapaciousness ; from 

 the stomach of a male (24 in.), caught while spawning, eleven 

 cyprinoids were taken ; of another (27 in.) the stomach con- 

 tained the remains of thirteen fishes, while in addition three 

 (of 2 in., 2^ in.) were taken from the pharynx. From all 

 observations it would appear that the Gar is reasonably to be 

 looked upon as only indirectly injurious to food fishes — i.e., 

 bass, perch, pickerel, pike, catfish — in reducing the general 

 food supply. It is also worthy of note that there appeared 

 throughout no evidence of the fish's having taken food that 

 had been torn or cut ; the function of the straight, close set 

 teeth seemed rather to prevent the escape of the prey than to 

 kill or cut it. 



Gars are extremely tenacious of life. Spawning fish taken 

 by snare remained out of water two hours in the bottom of a 

 boat : they were still alive and active, and supplied eggs and 

 milt for artificial fertilization. Others after a similar journey 

 were tethered by wire through mouth and gills and were kept 

 alive for a week or more during the remainder of the writer's 

 stay. Fish that had been speared and later placed in water 

 remained alive for four or five hours. The strength of the fish 

 is remarkable. This is perhaps in no way more evident than 

 in the movements of swimming — its power to advance rapidly 

 without apparent effort, to change at will from a position of 

 rest to one of most rapid motion, and then to be able to regain 

 instantly its position of rest. When taken from the water a 

 large fish (4 ft.) in its efforts to escape can with difficulty be 

 held in the hands. Its movements are varied and exceedingly 

 strong, bending both horizontally and (slightly) vertically, al- 

 most serpent-like in its flexures. The movements of the head 

 are especially noteworthy. 



At Black Lake, as elsewhere, it is only at the time of spawn- 

 ing that Gars become noticeable. They are seen by the fisher- 

 men during the early part of May rising about their boats, 

 thrusting their jaws out of water, often making a marked 



