THE MINNOW 189 



have from six to eight branched rays. The 

 coloration is very variable, but is usually of a silvery 

 grey, with the back green, brown, or nearly black, 

 and with a golden band along the upper part of 

 the side ; sometimes a series of dark vertical bars 

 descend from the back, sometimes there is a dark 

 longitudinal band along the middle of the side, or 

 there may be scattered irregular spots. 



The Minnow is found all over Europe except the 

 Iberian Peninsula, and in Russian Turkestan and 

 Siberia ; in Britain it ranges north to the River 

 Deveron in Banffshire, and has been introduced into 

 the Spey, but is absent from the Northern High- 

 lands of Scotland ; in Ireland it is local, and at one 

 time was said to be restricted to the counties of 

 Dublin and Wicklow. Major Trevelyan, however, 

 has sent me some from Fermanagh. A closely 

 allied form occurs in Spain and Portugal {P. 

 hispanicus). 



As a rule, the Minnow does not grow to a length 

 of more than 3 or 4 inches, and one of the last- 

 named size is shown on PL XXXII, Fig. 3 ; 

 occasionally specimens 6 or 7 inches long have 

 been taken. 



These pretty little fish are found in lakes, ponds, 

 canals, and rivers, but they especially prefer clear 

 streams where the bottom is sandy or gravelly ; 

 they swim in companies, and in the larger rivers 

 are often to be found where the water begins to 

 deepen at the end of a shallow. Sometimes long 

 processions may be seen moving from one place to 

 another, in search of new feeding-grounds ; on such 

 occasions they are said implicitly to follow the leaders, 

 whose daring or curiosity may not always be for the 



