588 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



accomplished 

 the desired re- 

 suit. Several 

 years thereafter 

 the writer was 

 well repaid for 

 his patience and 

 labor, as this 

 photograph, 

 grouped with 

 others of fish 

 and various 

 living crea- 

 tures, was 

 awarded a prize 

 at the Exhibit 

 of the Royal 

 Photographic 

 Society of Great Britain, held at Liverpool. The Com- 

 mon Sunfish shown in Figure 7 was secured by the 

 writer in one of his own aquaria the day after it was 

 caught in the Potomac River. 



When properly cared for, these sunfishes may be 

 reared in aquaria from little bits of specimens less than 



THE STRIPED BASS 



Figure 5. It is said that this fish the Striped Bass may attain a weight of forty pounds, while market 

 specimens seldom range over half of that. Naturally, there is a large literature on this famous food 

 fish, which is a species ranging all the way rouftd the eastern and southern coasts of the United States. 



THE SUNFISH 



Figure 6. This long-eared Sunfish is one of the most beautiful species 

 of its genus. Though not an ear, it receives its name from the black 

 flap above the gill-slit. All the streams in this country that empty into 

 the Atlantic and the Gulf are abundantly supplied with this species 

 of sunfish. 



two centimeters long. Two such fish are at hand at 

 this writing, swimming contentedly about in a medium- 

 sized aquarium ; each is now more than three times the 

 size it was when taken from its river home, and each 

 has begun to assume the pretty colors of the adult of 

 the species. In fact, an old male sunfish of the Common 

 variety, when in full color, is really an exceptionally 

 beautiful fish. Rarely do they exceed a pound and 

 a half or two pounds in weight, being easily captured 

 with angling worms and the simplest sort of rod, 

 hook, and line, with the usual float and light sinker. 



Of all our 

 best known 

 fishes that is 

 food fishes no 

 one is a greater 

 favorite than 

 the White 

 Perch Roccus 

 americanus of 

 science. It is 

 one of the best 

 "pan - fishes" 

 known, and the 

 most abundant 

 one in the mar- 

 kets of New 

 England and 

 northern Atlan- 

 tic States. Economically, our Striped Bass is doubtless 

 the most important fish where it ranges; but beyond 

 question this White Perch stands next on the list. 

 (Fig. 9). It is wonderfully abundant in the streams 

 that empty into the bays along the Atlantic Coast, as 

 far south as Florida. 



As long ago as 1878, we read in the Report of the 

 United States Fish Commission that "after the middle 

 of June the White Perch are found in localities widely 

 different; even waters with a dense growth of lily and 

 river weed are found to contain them in apparent health 

 and vigor spots where the Rockfish could not liye a 

 day. Still later in the summer, as the young Perch 

 become quite strong and of some size, the river, although 



ANOTHER SUNFISH 



Figure 7. Another beautiful Sunfish is the common species the 

 "game fish" of boyhood days. It has many other names, as "Pumpkin 

 Seed," "Tobacco Box," and "Sunny." Sm-.fish of this species are found 

 as far south as the streams of Georgia -nd westward to the Great 

 Lakes. As a "pan-fish," it has furnished many a forester a breakfast. 



in and about tide-water, fairly teems with them. At this 

 season they go in schools, sometimes of large size. 

 Twelve, fifteen, and twenty dozen August Perch have 

 been known to be ,taken with a line in as short a time 

 as from three to five hours. Fishing in this way, a 



