COMMON FISH. 311 



first one kind and then another as fast as the .most 

 unreasonable angler could wish ; and how, as they were 

 caught they were split open, fried on the wood-ashes, 

 and eaten with a relish which their own merits never 

 deserved. 



A very common and inferior fish, belonging also to 

 the Cyprinida is the Sucker (Catostomus communis), the 

 body of which is from eight to twelve inches in length, 

 rounded and tapering, the colour varying at different 

 seasons. The head is smooth, and the mouth protracted 

 in order to enable it to grovel in the sand, where it is 

 very destructive to the ova of other fish. 



A frequent source of annoyance to the angler for 

 pike and basse is the Cat-fish (Silurus pimelodus\ which 

 is continually taking his bait. This is an ugly looking 

 ill-shaped fish, covered with a greenish yellow skin devoid 

 of scales ; about the mouth are some six or eight fleshy 

 horns or filaments, from one to two inches or more in 

 length, according to the size of the fish. These probably 

 serve the purpose of feelers, for I have more than once 

 observed the fish in shallow water swimming round a bait 

 at the full extent of these tentacles, and suspiciously 

 touching it with them before venturing nearer. This 

 reconnoissance however, if such it be, does not appear to 

 avail them much, for there is no fish more easily taken. 



They are of all sizes, from the length of a finger to 



