304 PIKE AND OTHER COARSE FISH. 



the central districts of Europe, as well as those northward of 

 St. Petersburg, Finland, and Scandinavia. Some of the lakes 

 of Ireland also produce it in large quantities. In England it 

 is found in many countries, appearing to thrive best in large 

 open sheets of water, and in slow rivers, where the stream 

 occasionally widens out into broads or deeps. Of the rivers 

 near the metropolis which breed this fish, perhaps the Mole 

 and the Medway are the most noted. They are also very 

 numerous in the Thames at Weybridge, just below its junction 

 with the Wey, and in the latter river, higher up towards Wisley, 

 are occasionally caught of very large size. I recently examined 

 a specimen weighing upwards of 5 Ibs. taken thence ; the 

 scales of this fish were rough and almost file-like, from a small 

 whitish tubercle which is a periodical production common to 

 the species, as well as to several others of the carp family, at 

 the spawning time. Baily mentions one of 17 Ibs., taken in the 

 Trent, but 7 or 8 Ibs. appears to be the highest average really 

 attained by the bream, at any rate in Great Britain. 



Bream are gregarious, and their food consists of worms, 

 slugs, aquatic insects, and vegetable substances. 



Two varieties of the bream species are found in this country : 

 one the Pomeranian l bream, an exceedingly rare fish, being 

 known in very few waters, and the other the white bream, 

 or bream-flat, 2 which is comparatively common. Indeed, the 

 carp-bream and bream- flat are frequently found in the same 

 waters, and in habits and food are nearly identical. The white 

 bream is known to exist in Cambridgeshire, Nottinghamshire, 

 Norfolk, and Dumfriesshire. I have taken it frequently in the 

 River Wey, in Surrey, and it is probably locally recognised in 

 many other counties. It is also common on the Continent 

 and in Scandinavia. It is best fished for with roach tackle and 

 a red worm or gentle, and has this singular habit by which it 

 may be constantly recognised, even before it has been seen of 

 rising instead of descending with the bait ; in consequence of 



* Abramis Bii^oiha^ii. 2 Abramis Dlicca. 



