14 



BLEAK. 



Abdominales Malacopterygii. Cyprinidce. 



(Alhurnus lucidus. Leuciscus alhurnus. Cyiyrinus 



alhurnus.) 



Local names : BlicJc, Bleik, Bleis, Blaze, Willow Blade. French : 

 L^Ahlette. German: Weissjisch, Albe Marienfisch. Welsh: 

 Concyniad. Danish: Lojer. Swedish: Loja. Italian: Avola. 



A VERY elegant and useful little fish of great activity. 

 He frequents the fastest streams, swimming gracefully 



BLEAK. 



on the surface of the water. This pretty little fish is 

 particularly active in sunny weather ; he is a great eater 

 of flies, and almost anything, animal or vegetable, that 

 comes down with the stream. 



A good way to catch him is with a fine hair line, 

 and small hook, baited with a common fly, piece of fat 

 bacon, or a very small artificial gnat. Bleak are very 

 common at the mouths of sewers, and when inspecting 

 the Severn at Shrewsbury, I went to the mouth of a 

 sewer to see what effect it was having on the river. 

 The water was ink-black fi-om the waste dye fi'om a 

 manufactory, and was so warm that steam was seen on 

 the surface of the water. The bleak were here in vast 

 shoals feeding on the midges hatched out by the warm 

 water. It was satisfactory to find h'om the presence of 

 the bleak that this particular pollution could not be very 

 injurious to salmon life. 



