364 WILD LIFE IN A SOUTHERN COUNTY. 



heard in several directions at once, and the glint of 

 their silvery sides in the sunshine is at the same time 

 visible. At night it is clear the same thing is going 

 forward, for the splashing continues, though the wave 

 raised by the panic-stricken crowds cannot be distin- 

 guished in the darkness. 



It is curious to notice how the solitary disposition 

 of the jack shows itself almost as soon as he comes to 

 life. While the fry of most other fish swim in shoals, 

 sometimes in countless numbers, the tiny jack, hardly 

 so long as one's little finger, lurks all alone behind a 

 stone which forms a .miniature harbour. On a warm 

 day almost every such place has its youthful pirate. 

 Notwithstanding the terror of the roach when pursued, 

 they will play about apparently without the slightest 

 fear when the pike is basking in the sun with his back 

 all but on a level with the surface that is, when the 

 lake is at its ordinary height. It is as if they knew 

 their tyrant was enjoying his siesta. 



These roach literally swarm. At their spawning 

 time that part of the lake the shore of which is stony 

 is positively black with them. For a distance of some 

 hundred and fifty yards the water for seven or eight 

 feet from shore is simply a moving mass of roach. 

 They crowd up against the stones, get underneath 

 them and behind them, enter every little creek and 

 interstice, and are so jammed by their own numbers 

 that they may easily be caught by hand. In their 

 anxiety to secure a place they crush against each other 

 and splash up the water. This impulse only lasts a 



