288 SPAWNING AND GROWTH OF PIKE. 



His body is comely to look at ; and if he could 

 hide his head by no means a diminished one 

 his green and silver vesture would attract many 

 admirers. His intemperate habits, however, 

 render him an object of disgust and dread. He 

 devours his own children; but, strange to say, 

 likes better (for eating) the children of his neigh- 

 bours. Heat spoils his appetite, cold sharpens it ; 

 and this very day (30th December 1846) a friend 

 has sent me a gormandising specimen, caught by 

 an armed gudgeon, amidst the ice and snow of the 

 Thames, near Marl ow. I envy the pike-constitution. 

 Jack and pike spawn either in March or April, 

 according to the mildness of the season and the 

 temperature of the water. They retire for the 

 purpose of procreation in pairs from the rivers, 

 into creeks and ditches, and there, amongst 

 aquatic plants, the female deposits her ova. The 

 male of course accompanies the female ; and when 

 his milt has fecundated the ova, the pair return 

 to deep water for the benefit of their own health, 

 and quite regardless of the eggs, which they have 

 left to be hatched by time and tide. Young pike 

 grow rapidly, and it is said by the end of the first 

 year attain a weight of two pounds. I doubt it, 

 and am persuaded that afterwards pike do not each 

 add every year a pound to its weight. They may 

 more than do so for a few years, but the time comes 

 when their growth is stationary, size varying ac- 



