THE HABITS AKD HAUNTS OF FISH. 39 



near the head of the pool. In larger and wider ones the 

 fish lie in the streams when gently flowing, and near the 

 shelving or well-wooded bank. Sandy or gravelly bottoms 

 are preferred by the chub. They are seldom or never 

 found where the bed of the water is of mud or loam; they, 

 like the grayling, find food in the gravel and sandy bed. 

 They feed, as is the case with the whole cyprinus family, 

 upon aquatic plants, and have, in common with their 

 order, fully developed throat teeth. Their food also con- 

 sists of worms, flies, beetles, grubs, and, indeed, every- 

 thing that in general forms food for their more aristo- 

 cratic fellow- tenants of the stream; and they are to be 

 taken with almost every conceivable bait, from a minnow 

 to a midge. Their edible qualities are bad, but when 

 rubbed with saltpetre immediately after being killed and 

 cleansed, they form tolerable fare. 



EELS. There are two distinct varieties of these fish 

 that are indigenous to this country, viz : the sharp-nosed 

 species (Anguilla vulgaris) which, as far as can be ascer- 

 tained, is migratory in its habits, and the broad-nosed. 

 The former annually descend to the mouths of the rivers 

 they inhabit to find brackish water. This excursion is 

 made in ths autumn, the main object being to find water 

 of the right temperature for vivifying their ova, as, unlike 

 all other species of fresh- water fish, they would appear to 

 require a higher rate of temperature for this purpose. It 

 is well-known that the water in the tidal part of rivers is 

 several degrees higher in temperature than that nearer 

 the source, owing, first, to the greater elevation of the 

 sources; and, secondly, to the contact of two fluids of 

 different densities, as salt and fresh water, which causes 

 an increase of temperature of at least two degrees. The 

 passage of the adult fish, during or immediately after a 

 flood down-stream in the autumn, is well-known to the 

 owners of fisheries upon our large rivers, who place traps 

 for their capture. The immense numbers that inhabit 



