THE CARP FAMILY. 403 



authors have doubled " ! (Unless this be a misprint for 

 doubted, one is inclined to envy the said " modern authors " 



their inventive power.) In colour the gudgeon 

 * Gudgeon. . , r , ' . 



is some shade of grey, having dark blotches 



along the lateral line. It has only two barbels. Thriving 

 equally in still or running water, with a preference perhaps 

 for the latter, this is the fish of the Seine. In England it 

 is widely distributed ; but its occurrence in Scotland seems 

 doubtful, and in Ireland it is extremely local. Its food 

 consists chiefly of insects and their larvae, but it is also 

 suspected, not wholly without reason, of consuming fish- 

 spawn. It spawns in the month of June. 



One of the angler's favourite fishes, the Eoach is found 



in most suitable waters, still or running, in Great Britain, 



but is absent from Ireland, its place being 



* lloach 



supplied, so far as sport goes, by its near ally 

 the rudd. In colour, this fish is dark blue, or green, above, 

 lighter on the sides, and silver beneath ; lower fins, red. 



According to Seeley, the scales become rough in the 

 spawning-season. The roach grows to a weight of at least 

 3 Ibs., but one of half that weight is nowadays considered 

 a trophy from most waters. Its food consists of insects 

 and molluscs, possibly also of some weedy matter ; and it 

 is generally accounted by anglers in this country an ex- 

 ceptionally wary fish. This, however, must be the result 



