166 PIKE, HEBRING. 



them during the night. The Eel usually feeds on water- 

 insects, worms, and the spawn of fishes ; it will devour 

 almost any decayed animal substance which may be 

 thrown into the water ; it is viviparous, bringing forth its 

 young at the end of the summer. The Eel usually spends 

 the day in a hole in the banks, which is furnished with 

 two openings, to provide for its easy escape ; in winter it 

 lies hidden under the mud. It is taken in great numbers 

 in many parts of Europe; about the shores of the Baltic, 

 and in the river Garonne, they have been observed to be 

 very numerous. Most medical writers condemn the Eel 

 as food ; but it is probably hurtful only in excess, being 

 highly nutritious. The usual length of the animal is from 

 two to three feet ; it is said to attain to the size of six feet, 

 but very rarely. It is of slow growth, and lives to a great 

 age. 



THE COMMON PIKE 



Inhabits the smaller rivers and lakes of Europe, and is 

 noted for its great voracity ; it will devour any thing, and 

 has been known to be choked in trying to swallow a fish 

 of its own species as large as itself: it is the terror of the 

 smaller fish, who avoid it as the lesser birds do the hawk. 

 In the rivers of Lapland the Pike has been found eight 

 feet in length ; but in this country it is much smaller. 

 The head is very flat, the mouth is furnished with teeth to 

 the amount of seven hundred ; the body is of a lengthened 

 form, not tapering very much towards the tail j the colors 

 are pale olive-grey, deepest on the back, and marked on 

 the sides with yellowish patches ; the abdomen is white ; 



: - 1 - il - spotted with yellow. The animal lives to be very 



slightly 



THE COMMON HERRING 



Furnishes man with an abundant article of food. It 

 appears in the month of June, coming southwards towards 

 the Shetland Isles in a shoal five or six miles in length, 

 and three or four in breadth. The water is driven into a 

 ripple before them ; and when they rise to the surface, 



