4 DEAN. [Vol. XL 



Occasionally one may be taken with a minnow bait." This 

 note, as far as the writer is aware, is the only definite refer- 

 ence that occurs in literature as to the usual habits of the fish. 

 Belief, however, is very current that Gars are exceedingly 

 voracious, killing and eating the larger fish, and not hesitating to 

 attack even a swimmer who has ventured in their neighborhood. 

 In the South, where examples have been taken as large as 

 seven feet in length, their shark-like fierceness is credited 

 more plausibly, and certainly to a degree which prevents the 

 negroes from bathing in waters {e.g., several branches of the 

 Edisto River) where Gars are known to be large and abundant.^ 

 It is also currently believed that Gars are migratory, appearing 

 at different places at different times, an idea probably to be 

 traced to the general appearance of the fish only at spawning 

 time. 



Black Lake, however, furnishes conclusive evidence that the 

 Gar is in no way migratory. The lake is but a small body of 

 water whose communication with the St, Lawrence has long 

 been cut off, and, though land-locked, has afforded especially 

 favorable conditions for every life-stage of the fish. Their dis- 

 appearance after spawning is, moreover, by no means complete. 

 As stated by Mr. H. J. Perry, who for many years has care- 

 fully observed the fish at Black Lake, they may be seen near 

 the surface at any time during the summer and fall. As a rule, 

 their feeding habits appear then nocturnal and numbers are 

 usually taken by night lines. 



The actual mode of feeding has been observed by the present 

 writer. The Gar approaches its prey (young dace) cautiously, 

 advancing without perceptible movements ; when within three 

 or four feet it pauses, as if accurately to direct its aim, then, with- 

 out seeming effort, it shoots quickly forward, secures the fish, 

 stops suddenly, and is again motionless. An occasional bending 

 of the head adds not a little to the apparent dexterity of move- 

 ment. The food in all cases examined consisted exclusively 

 of small soft finned fishes, mainly dace, none of which were 



1 The writer, while in South Carolina, was unable to obtain any direct evidence 

 of the Gars' attacking even larger fish, nor has he seen any efforts on the part of 

 specimens he has taken to warrant any belief in their fierceness. 



