ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY BULLETIN 



329 



SEINE-BOAT SIARTING OUT. 



come from the Bronx River and the lakes of 

 Central and Prospect parks. Occasional fish- 

 ing- trips are made to ponds on Long Island or 

 convenient places in New Jersey. Nearly all 

 of the following species are readily obtained 

 from the Bronx River, within the limits of the 

 Zoological Park, and from Central and Pros- 

 pect parks : Common carp, mirror carp, com- 

 mon roach, small-mouthed bass, large-mouthed 

 bass, white perch, yellow perch, sunfish, rudd 

 or pearl roach, brook _ 

 sucker, chub sucker, long- 

 eared sunfish, bullhead, 

 pickerel, fresh-water killi- 

 fish, gold fish. 



For the longer trips the 

 wagon is off with the big 

 fifty-foot seine and the fish 

 tanks by daybreak, the col- 

 lector, with two or three 

 men from the Aquarium, 

 starting later and reaching 

 the seining ground by the 

 time the wagon arrives. 

 After the seine has been 

 stowed in the stern of any 

 convenient boat, the haul 

 rope of one end is passed 

 ashore. The boat then 

 makes a wide sweep, while 

 the collector is paying out 

 the seine. The haul rope at 

 the other end is then car- 

 ried ashore and the net is 



slowly dragged toward the 

 beach, where the fishes 

 wanted are carefully lifted 

 with dip nets into the tanks 

 of fresh water. 



During the long drive 

 back to the Aquarium, it is 

 not usually necessary to 

 change the water in the 

 tanks or to aerate it by lift- 

 ing with a dipper and pour- 

 ing back. The motion of 

 the wagon seems to splash 

 the water sufficiently for 

 the time being. Care is al- 

 ways taken that the speci- 

 mens are not so crowded as 

 to exhaust the oxygen in 

 the water or to make it 

 ^limy. The collecting of 

 fresh-water fishes is done 



chiefly in the spring and 



late in the fall. 



Occasionally the seine 

 brings to shore desirable specimens of turtles, 

 crayfishes, fresh-water mussels, newts, frogs 

 and tadpoles. Some of the lakes of Central 

 Park abound' in the so-called pearl roach or 

 European rudd. which was placed there many 

 years ago. Gold fishes are easily obtained in 

 the park lakes. \'ery fine specimens of pickerel 

 and black bass can, at times, be had in the 

 Bronx River. 



As the park lakes are not fished except for 



THROWING OUT THE SEINE. 



