COMMON PIKE. 259 



or spawn. Umber are found in Derbyshire, Shropshire, 

 and Hampshire, but in this country are by no means a 

 common fish. In the rivers of Lapland they are ex- 

 tremely numerous. 



These fish have sometimes, though rarely, been known 

 to weigh more than four pounds. The teeth are so small 

 as scarcely to be visible. The upper jaw is longer than 

 the lower one. The rays in the dorsal fin are twenty- 

 three in number. The head is dusky, and the gill-covers 

 are glossy green. The back and sides are of a fine silvery 

 gray. The scales are large, and form straight rows from 

 the head of the fish to its tail. The lateral line also is 

 straight. 



16. PIKE TRIBE. 



The mouth and throat of these fish are excessively wide, 

 and the former is thickly beset with large and pointed 

 teeth. Some of them are found in the ocean, and others 

 in fresh water. 



Common Pike. The voracity of the Pike is proverbial. 

 Like the shark, they commit the most savage devastations 

 on all the weaker inhabitants of the water. Their appe- 

 tite is insatiable, swallowing with avidity the most putrid 

 garbage, and sometimes devouring even their own species. 

 They are found in rivers, lakes, and ponds of almost every 

 country of Europe. They live to a great age, and are 

 known sometimes to arrive at an immense size. A Pike 

 was killed in Scotland, a few years ago, which measured 

 more than five feet in length, and weighed fifty-four 

 pounds. In some parts of the continent they become 

 even larger than this. These fish do not all spawn at 

 the same season ; but some of them deposit their ova as 



