x LETTERS TO MARCO 61 



ally solitary in their habits, whilst the other 

 sorts seem to know the safety of numbers, 

 and feed in shoals like sheep, or rooks, or 

 starlings. A young jack is always seen 

 quite by itself, lying very still ; but perch 

 keep up a certain amount of companionship 

 with one another. Perch hunt and capture 

 their prey very much as cats do, getting 

 round corners and amongst posts and weeds, 

 from whence they dart out with a sudden 

 rush of three or four yards ; these rushes 

 are easily seen, the small fish jumping clean 

 out of the water in every direction, the back 

 fin of the perch itself being sometimes seen 

 above water. I do not know how jack take 

 their prey, but they lie like logs at the 

 bottom amongst the weeds, their eyes being 

 placed so that they can see well all above 

 them ; their mouths are so large and well 

 set with teeth that there is little chance of 

 escape for anything once seized. A fisher- 

 man told me they seize their prey cross- 

 wise, and do not swallow it at once, but hold 



