THE CHUB 193 



Walker ; the example figured (PI. XXVI, Fig. 2) is 

 less than a foot long. 



This is especially a river fish, and in hot summer 

 days may often be seen in shoals lying near the top 

 of the water and leaping at the flies, or just as often 

 feeding near the bottom on weeds, shrimps, worms, 

 etc., frequenting swift shallows such as mill-streams, 

 from which habit it has in France received the 

 name of Meunier (Miller). 



The larger Chub are often solitary and are very 

 wary, often lying under the shelter of an overhanging 

 bank or beneath the shade of some bush ; they are 

 extremely voracious and feed to a considerable extent 

 on little fish such as Minnows and Gudgeon, a prey for 

 which their large mouth and strong jaws suit them. 

 In the autumn the Chub retire into deep water and 

 remain there throughout the winter. 



The breeding season is from April to June, when the 

 fish assemble on weedy shallows where the bottom is 

 gravelly and the current moderately strong ; here 

 they may be seen for some days leaping out of the 

 water and making a considerable disturbance. At 

 this season the males have little tubercles on the 

 head, and their scales also become rough. The eggs 

 adhere to the stones and hatch out in a week or a 

 little more ; the fry are said to grow rapidly, and the 

 fish to become mature at the age of three years. 



As food the Chub is not of much account, being 

 coarse and bony, but with some trouble may be 

 made into a passably good dish. 



The various names by which the Chub is known 

 seem mostly to have reference to the size and 

 breadth of the head ; Chub is evidently from the 

 same root as chubby, meaning with fat cheeks ; 



