178 NATURALIST'S CABINET. 



Dreaded by all other fish. 



of the watery plain ; and, in fact, in proportion 

 to his strength and celerity, he is the most active 

 and voracious of the fiesh water fish. He will 

 attack every fish less than himself, and is some- 

 times seen choaked by attempting to swallow 

 such as are too large a morsel. It is immaterial 

 of what species the animal it pursues appears to 

 be, whether of another or its own ; all are indis- 

 criminately devoured ; so that every fish owes 

 its safety to its minuteness, its celerity, or its 

 courage: nor does the pike confine itself to feed 

 on fish and frogs, it will draw down the water- 

 rats and the young ducks as they are swimming 

 about. Pikes frequently swallow fish as large as 

 themselves, as may be seen from the instances 

 already given in our preceding pages of their 

 remarkable voracity. They seize them always 

 by the head, and digest one part of their prey 

 before they can draw into their mouths the 

 other. What is very remarkable, the pike hav- 

 ing ravaged a pond, will attack and devour one 

 another. For this reason they are dreaded by 

 all other fish ; and the small ones shew the same 

 uneasiness and detestation at the presence of 

 their tyrant, as the little birds do at the sight of 

 an hawk or an owl. When the pike lies asleep 

 near the surface, as is frequently the case, the 

 lesser fish are often observed to swim round it 

 in vast numbers, with a mixture of caution and 

 terror. 



