THE PERCH 



Henley may at any time be seen a huge herd of 

 swans ; and to prevent the consequent extinc- 

 tion of perch in that district it has been found 

 necessary to go to the heavy expense of placing 

 hundreds of yards of wire rabbit-netting round the 

 little bays and projecting willow bushes which are 

 the perch's breeding grounds. I would not go so far 

 as to suggest the entire abolition of swans on the 

 Thames, for others have to be considered besides 

 fishermen, but some limit should certainly be put on 

 the numbers of the beautiful but destructive birds. 

 Some slight concession has been made to Thames 

 anglers in this matter, by the removal during the 

 spawning season of the barren swans from the river 

 below Staines. The continuance of this arrangement 

 appears to depend on funds being provided to defray 

 the cost of feeding the birds while in confinement, an 

 expense met during two seasons by the chairman of 

 the T. A. P. S. 



If every egg that escaped the swans and other 

 enemies hatched, and the resulting little fish grew into 

 half-pounders, the river would be fully stocked, but 

 the waste from various causes in the propagation of 

 the fish is simply enormous. It is a mistake to sup- 

 pose that because a single perch or other fish deposits 

 so many thousands of eggs, that therefore the supply 



