50 BRITISH FRESH-WATER FISHES 



yellowish along the base, blending into green and red towards 

 the margin ; that of the pectoral fins or balancers is very 

 thin, semi-transparent, and varies in hue from pale brown to 

 yellowish. All the other fins the two ventral, the anal, 

 and the caudal are of a lively vermilion, sometimes tending 

 to orange, in charming contrast with the bronzy tones of the 

 body and gleaming white of the belly. 



The average size of perch varies much in different waters, 

 depending upon the abundance of food. The rate of growth 

 is probably slow under all conditions ; KrOyer says 

 that at three years old the perch measures six inches 

 in length and weighs three ounces, and that in its sixth year it 

 is sixteen inches long and weighs a pound and a half. This 

 may be the normal rate of increase, but it is certainly liable 

 to be retarded by scanty diet, if not by narrow quarters, and 

 might probably be accelerated if these conditions were reversed. 

 As a young fellow, I used to work much with aquaria. Among 

 my favourites were a dozen or so of perch, which, when 

 caught, were from an inch to an inch and a half long. Owing 

 to the interruption of school-times these were not fed with the 

 regularity to which they were entitled, and at the end of two 

 years I could detect very little increase in their stature. No 

 doubt, had they been at liberty, roaming over a water-bottom 

 teeming with life, they would have fed incessantly and increased 

 in due proportion. 



In waters favourable to their development, perch of from 

 i Ib. to 3 Ib. in weight are taken not infrequently, and the 

 persevering angler is entitled to expect one occasionally of 

 even greater size. Every writer who has dealt with this fish 

 for the last century and a half has quoted Pennant's report of a 

 perch weighing 9 Ib., said to have been taken in the Serpentine. 

 Pennant was a good naturalist, no doubt ; but he was even 

 more renowned as a traveller, whose business it was to make 

 his tales readable. He may have refrained, therefore, from 

 making due allowance for that remarkable property in sporting 



