2/6 . GAME FISH OF NORTH AMERICA. 



We have said that there are decided variations from these two 

 standard types, and these we are certain that Prof. Gill himself 

 readily concedes. Indeed, there is no genus of known fish that 

 exhibits such numerous and striking varieties ; just as there is no 

 family of fishes which is presented in so many forms as that to 

 which the black bass belongs — namely, the Percidcs. These va- 

 riations puzzled the observant De Kay forty years ago, and are no 

 less an enigma to superficial students at the present day. They 

 are most numerous in Northern waters ; quite frequent in the 

 West ; and several at the South. The general colors we find to 

 be as follows : bluish, deep green, almost black, grass green, light 

 green, greenish white, deep olive, and light olive. Some are spot- 

 ted, others barred, and some without any lateral markings. Local- 

 ly they are termed perch, bass, chub and trout, and are severally 

 known as yellow perch, black perch, Oswego bass, strawberry 

 bass, white bass, rock bass, black bass, marsh bass, river bass, 

 spotted bass, speckled hen, green bass, slough bass, etc., etc. 

 They vary much in their proportions, some having heavy shoulders, 

 while others are slender ; they also vary in their habits of living, 

 their food, locations, temperature of water, and times of spawning, 

 characteristics sufficiently diverse to constitute distinct species, if 

 classification were not absolutely based upon anatomical structure. 



In Canada there is great' diversity as to weight and shape. 

 For instance : those caught in ponds and lakes in the counties of 

 Brant and Oxford, are much larger and thicker than those found, 

 say, in Grand River. Notwithstanding, where there are long, 

 deep, still stretches of water formed by mill dams as at Gait or 

 Paris, bass are often taken averaging in weight those taken in 

 lakes. In Pine Pond, on the south edge of the township of Bland- 

 ford and Blenheim, Oxford, the bass are remarkable for their 

 thickness at the shoulders. So distinct is the figure and general 

 configuration — especially as regards this latter quality — that we 

 are inclined to believe that they are identical with the Oswego 

 bass. The Oswego bass and the bass of the Mohawk and Hudson 

 Rivers, show dusky bars on their sides after being caught. When 

 hooked, the first move is into the air, and it is continued, more or 

 less, principally more, until the struggle ends in the death or es- 

 cape of the fish. The first fishing for this bass in the spring or 



