41 



pectorals in perpetual motion, and will at times dart violently to the 

 surface and down again instantaneously, remaining a long time without 

 going to the surface to respire. They ai-e an excellent bait for bass 

 fishing. 



The Pike {Esox Reticulatus) is a well known fisli everywhere, but 

 it is an undecided question whether the pike of this counti-y and of 

 Europe are the same, or different species. I think, however, there is 

 very little essential difference. What has been styled \\\ this countr^j; 

 as a different speci?s of pike, namely, the splendid Pike {E. Plialeratus), 

 is, I believe, the ordinary pike in various stages of growth. Another 

 species, the northern Pike, {E. LuGius)is met with here occasionally. It 

 is a noticeable fact that the dorsal fin of the pike is placed very far back, 

 thus greatly facilitating his movements through the weeds. There are 

 two peculiarities connected with this fish not perhaps generally known, 

 the one that he is during tlie summer particularly listless, basking near 

 the surface, when no bait, however tempting, can allure him ; in fact 

 he rather i-etreats or backs from it. Now, at this period, small fry are 

 commencing their active existence, and this listlessness looks like a 

 marked feature in fish economy, for the small fry at this time swim 

 around him with apparently total unconcern. These remarks refer 

 more particularly to pike in shallow water, as in the lakes and deep 

 rivers this habit is not noticeable. The other peculiaiity is that dui-ing 

 the fall it spends the daytime in deep watei", and at night in the shallowest 

 water along the shore, fi'equently coming so near land as to display its 

 fins. What its object in so doing can be is hard to say : some think it 

 is to enjoy the warmer temperature of the shallow water, and others 

 think it is for the purpose of watching for and capturing small land 

 animals that come to the water's edge at night. It cannot be for 

 spawning, as that takes place in spring. I am rather inclined to the 

 belief that its object is to rid itself of parasites, by rubbing on gravelly 

 bottoms and shoals. There is much confusion between the pike and 

 his cousin the Maskinonge [E. Nobilior) for which overgrown pike are 

 often mistaken, but any person who has seen the two fish alongside can 

 always afterwards distinguish them. Its mandibles are larger than 

 those of the pike, tail more forked and larger, or lunate, while that of 

 the pike is bilobed, back of a dark grey, and its sides lighter and 



