ABRAMIS BEAM A. 213 



acute, that it flies away at any noise, and is disturbed by noise even during 

 spawning. It is preyed upon by most carnivorous fishes and water birds. It 

 suffers much from intestinal worms, the sufferers becoming- thin, and pale 

 in colour. It is easily transported, and grows well in ponds, but is good 

 for nothing when put there. Chaucer, however, seems to have thought 

 otherwise ; for we learn from the prologue to the " Canterbury Tales " : 



" Full many a fair partritch had he on inewe, 

 And many a Breme and many a Luce in stewe." 



Blanchard mentions that before the palate had become educated by the 

 introduction of Carp, the Bream was held in great honour, as we might 

 have inferred from the French proverb, " Qui a breme pent bramer ses amis." 

 The fish is sold at a low price. As its flavour is in no way disagreeable, 

 it is not to be disdained; but Dr. Badham, who investigated the virtues 

 of fishes with many kinds of cookery, rejects its 



" Flabby solids filled with treacherous bones." 



In Norfolk Bream sell at half-a-crown a bushel, and are chiefly eaten in 

 the middle of England, during the Hebrew Passover, and in Lent. 



Benecke says that in winter and spring the larger Prussian specimens 

 are very tasty, and preferred by some people to Carp. 



Bream spawn generally in May or June, but possibly earlier in favourable 

 localities. The males travel first on a voyage of discovery to find out the 

 soft grassy places on the banks, and the females arrive later. The spawning 

 is usually carried on at night, and is accompanied by considerable noise, 

 for the fish move rapidly, and smack their lips. The old fish lay their eggs 

 first. In favourable weather the spawning is accomplished in three to four 

 days, but if the weather is unfavourable the fish descend again to deeper 

 water without depositing the spawn. The eggs are one and a half millimetre 

 in diameter, yellow, are deposited on water-plants to the number of 200,000 

 to 300,000, and hatched in a few days. 



The scales of the male at the breeding season become rough, with little 

 asperities, which may be light or dark. At the same time, tubercles, like 

 those seen in many other Cyprinoids, are developed on the head ; in old fish 

 they remain for a long time, and have been observed as late as October. 

 Bream readily takes bait at spawning-time, and is then caught with a net, but 

 not easily, since the fish disappears at the least noise. In Prussia it is captured 

 in winter by a net inserted through holes in the ice. Benecke states that 

 as many as one hundred tons of Bream are sometimes obtained in this way. 



In the Caspian the Bream is remarkably abundant, the annual take 



