THE COMMON PERCH. 23 



better there than elsewhere. It is also found in the 

 Skargard (as the belt of islands fringing the Scandinavian 

 shores is called), off the eastern coast, where the water, how- 

 ever, is only brackish ; but more generally near to the 

 mouth of some lake or river, and seldom or never regularly 

 out to sea. 



The President M. af Robson speaks of a sub-species of 

 perch, found in the Lake Tisaren, in the province of Nerike, 

 which goes by the name of Skallingar. " Nothing is known," 

 that gentleman tells us, " regarding their propagation, neither 

 is milt or roe ever found in them. They resemble in appear- 

 ance the common perch, but are more slender in form ; 

 in proportion to the body, the head is larger than that, of the 

 perch. The back is black, the upper part of the body, 

 on the contrary, lighter or of paler colour than the perch. 

 For the most part they are found singly, or in small com- 

 panies, never assembling in large shoals. They are scarce, 

 and seldom exceed half-a-pound in weight." 



The so-called Rud-Abborre (the same spoken of by 

 Linnaeus as found in a pond near Upsala, a fish which, 

 from its crooked and elevated back, was at one time 

 imagined to be a hybrid, between the Crucian and the 

 Perch) is believed by Nilsson to be a variety of the latter ; 

 and by Ekstrom its malformation is ascribed solely to local 

 circumstances. 



The flesh of the perch is in Sweden, as in England, held 

 in high estimation, more especially that of such as are cap- 

 tured in salt water. It is believed, moreover, to have this pecu- 

 liarity, so uncommon with the finny tribe, that one may eat of 

 it daily for a long time without being surfeited. Its flavour, 

 however, depends much on the water from which the fish is 



