PERCH. 35 



The idea has gained ground that perch are self concipient. I frankly 

 -state that I don't believe it. I have repeatedly met with rugged rough 



old veterans (males) whose anatomy has completely settled the question, 

 .and if the expression " old " may be applied without reprehension to 



females, I may say the same in reference to them. In September and 

 October, when the swarming begins, it is uncommon to find a male fish 

 amongst the " common herd." These exclusive gentlemen inhabit the 



deeps at this period, and solemnly enjoy themselves in the more congenial 

 society of barbel, large chub, trout, bream, &c. The possibility is that 



Ovid is responsible for the idea when he speaks of the " channe" or 

 " gaper," a species of Greek perch, thus : 



Exee 

 Concipiens Channe gemino f raudata parente. 



Mr. Manley, in "Notes on Fish and Fishing," states hia belief 

 in this anatomically absurd idea. Anyhow, perch manage to multiply 

 with tolerable numerical success. Picot, of Geneva, has estimated 

 as many as 992,000 eggs in the ovary of a female fish of but lib. 

 weight. The female winds the spawn, which is usually deposited 

 iu ribands, in and out the weeds, &c., near the shore ; this is 

 impregnated by the male, and in the Thames nine-tenth* of these 

 eggs are eaten by the swans and other enemies. Otherwise the 

 multiplication of perch would be enormous. The spawning season is 

 variable, sometimes being in April, and occasionally as late as the end of 

 .June. 



The food is very various, but being a fish of prey, its appetite is 

 invariably carnivorous. Occasionally one is caught with paste, but 

 such occurrences are justly regarded more as mistakes on the par*; 

 of the fish than the result of instinct. Nothing in the way of live 

 insects, from the crustaceans of the water to the ephemera of the 

 air, comes amiss. The fresh- water shrimp is as acceptable as the 

 larva of the Mayfly, and I have even seen a perch take a Mayfly 

 in its pseudimago state. The chief of its aliment, however, is derived 

 from the small fry of fishes, and its appetite is so unscrupulous and 

 insatiable that I have even taken a perch with one of its own species 

 .and family, and found the tails of several minnows sticking out of its 

 gullet undigested, in fact, hardly swallowed. Raw butcher's meat comes 

 not amiss, and a prawn is often caviare. 



The habitat of Perca fluviatilis is more varied than any other fish of 

 prey. During spring and summer it is to be found chiefly in shallow 

 parts, near weeds, feasting on the parasitic riches of the water vegetation, 

 or seeking some lively minnow or small gudgeon ; in autumn it takes the 

 quieter and deeper parts of the river or lake ; as winter approaches it 



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