MINNOWS FOR GAME-FISH FOOD 15 



ence, both among their own and other species. 

 In the restricted space of a pond or lake, bull- 

 heads increase so rapidly that they soon devour 

 every vestige of food where they abide, and then 

 at once proceed to devour each other. This same 

 condition prevails with the muskellunge, pike, 

 and pickerel famihes. If a plentiful supply of fish 

 food is not available, the bass and trout families 

 also feed on the very young of their own kind. 

 It is claimed by some that the brook-trout is an 

 exception, but I have had several proofs that, 

 after it attains a weight of over two pounds, it 

 makes no distinction between the young of its 

 own kind and the young of perch or sucker. We 

 find this cannibalistic trait even among some 

 species of minnows where the adult fish measures 

 no more than two inches long. Thus it is, from 

 the minnow to the salmon, fresh-water fishes prey 

 unceasingly upon each other just as salt-water 

 fishes do in the ocean. 



In a document * issued by the bureau of fisheries, 

 several facts are given that may be of interest to 

 anglers on the various species of minnows useful 

 in destroying the eggs and larvae of mosquitoes 

 in the stagnant water where they breed. Of the 



* No. 857. 



