THE FOURTH DAY continued 

 Of the Gudgeon, the R^lffe y and the Bleak 



CHAPTER XV 



PISCATOR 



THE GUDGEON is reputed a fish of excellent taste, 

 and to be very wholesome. He is of a fine shape, 

 of a silver colour, and beautified with black spots 

 both on his body and tail. He breeds two or three 

 times in the year ; and always in summer. He is 

 commended for a fish of excellent nourishment. 

 The Germans call him Groundling, by reason of 

 his feeding on the ground ; and he there feasts 

 himself, in sharp streams and on the gravel. He 

 and the Barbel both feed so : and do not hunt for 

 flies at any time, as most other fishes do. He is 

 an excellent fish to enter a young angler, being easy 

 to be taken with a small red worm, on or very near 

 to the ground. He is one of those leather-mouthed 

 fish that has his teeth in his throat, and will hardly 

 be lost off from the hook if he be once strucken. 



They be usually scattered up and down every 

 river in the shallows, in the heat of summer : but in 

 autumn, when the weeds begin to grow sour and 

 rot, and the weather colder, then they gather to- 

 gether, and get into the deeper parts of the water ; 

 and are to be fished for there, with your hook always 



169 



