FOOD 



17 



Silverside (Female) 

 Reduced to One-half Actual Size 



localities, and, lying in the mud, close to shore, in three 

 or four inches of water, lives almost entirely on the frogs 

 which sport along the water's edge. When in the water 

 the two varieties of 

 bass are not easily 

 distinguished from 

 one another, even by 

 experts; and it is on 

 this account, no 

 doubt, that reliable 

 persons have fre- 

 quently stated that 



they had actually seen the small-mouthed bass catching frogs, 

 mistaking it for the other species. 



As evidence that frogs do not constitute an article of 

 diet for this fish, I place on record here my own experience, 

 which has extended over forty years, and has been varied 

 enough to entitle it to consideration. 



During this period it has been my privilege and pleasure 

 to angle for bass in a great many lakes and streams through- 

 out Canada; rarely a year has passed that I have not taken 

 from one hundred to five hundred bass, in a legitimate man- 

 ner, with rod and line; during the years 1870-1890, when there 

 was no limit to the catch of an angler, and bass were very 



plentiful, I have taken as many 

 as one hundred in a single 

 afternoon. 



One summer, not long ago, 



I kept an approximate list of 



the fish I captured, and it 



totalled in the neighbourhood 



of one thousand. 



I think I am safe in saying that during my life I have 



taken from five to ten thousand bass; and, as I have always 



examined the stomachs of my fish, I am able to state defi- 



Silverside (Male) 

 Reduced to One-third Actual Size 



