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THE NATURE BOOK 



gregate in swift-flowing currents. The 

 mouths of dykes are favourite haunts, and 

 in lakes that contain trout one may see 

 the Perch waiting in companies for the 

 small trout fry, as they leave the hatching 

 places and venture into the lake. 



The larv?e of insects, fresh- water shrimps, 

 shelltish, and earthworms are the food 

 of Perch, and they feed freely upon 

 minnows, young gudgeon, and the fry 

 of several fish. It is an interesting in- 

 stance of the fierce struggle for existence 

 below the water, when a big Perch, with 

 his back fin erect, and the bronze and green 

 of his scales glowing, dashes into a shoal 

 of minnows in the shallow water, driving 

 the frightened fish in all directions, and 

 causing them to leap in the air to escape 

 the open jaws. A Perch of a pound in 

 weight will seize a gudgeon of four to five 

 inches in length. They often take an 

 angler's spoon-bait when he is spinning 

 for Pike. In some ponds Perch will dart 

 at an artificial fly, sunk and jerked through 

 the water, doubtless mistaking it for a 

 small fish or an aquatic insect. They 

 may be attracted to the fishing ground by 

 worms thrown in over-night, and by 

 stirring up the mud and gravel with a 

 rake at the time of angling for them. 



Perch are bolder than most fresh-water 

 fish. Where they abound, it is not 

 difficult to see them, unless the water be 

 discoloured, and by approaching the 

 ri\'erside quietly a glimpse may often be 

 caught of a large Perch or two, or a shoal 

 of small ones, swimming sedately on the 

 fringe of the weeds. In navigable rivers 

 and canals they may be detected close to 

 lock gates and the boardings, or " camp- 

 sheddings " of weirs, while in ponds, on a 

 bright day, their black bands and red 

 fins are frequently visible amid the stems 

 of water-hlies. The temerity of the Perch 

 makes it a favourite among juvenile anglers. 

 Perch are not easily scared, hke roach, by 



coarse tackle, nevertheless, fine methods 

 must be employed for the capture of the 

 Perch of over-fished rivers like the Thames 

 and Lea. Hungry, undersized Perch in 

 quiet ponds and crowded, undisturbed 

 streams take a bait with fierce avidity, and 

 may be puUed out by the score. Bigger 

 Perch are naturaUy more suspicious, yet 

 there are occasions when they feed reck- 

 lessly for a speU. and then suddenly grow 

 alarmed and swim away. 



WiUiam Harrison, in " Holinshed's 

 Chronicles," refers to Perch as protected 

 fish during the Elizabethan period, stating 

 that these, among other fresh-water fish, 

 were preserved during the spawning 

 season " by very sharp laws, not only in 

 our ri\'ers, but also in plashes or lakes 

 and ponds, which otherwise would bring 

 small profit to the owners." 



There are old stories of the medicinal 

 value of a stone said to exist in the brain 

 of Perch, and there is no doubt that our 

 ancestors believed in the curative value 

 of the flesh of Perch, which was recom- 

 mended by physicians to wounded patients 

 and persons in fevers. In ancient Ger- 

 many, the Perch of the Rhine were 

 esteemed as remarkably wholesome. 



By our present fishery laws Perch are 

 protected from March 15th to June 15th. 

 They spawn from April tiU the end of May, 

 and are not in good condition until August. 

 George Rooper, author of " Thames and 

 Tweed," states that nearly all the Perch 

 he has caught and examined were females, 

 and that at all seasons of the year he 

 has found the spawn fully developed. 

 This is a matter which seems to have 

 escaped the attention of naturalists, and 

 the discovery may help to explain the 

 reduction in the numbers of Thames 

 Perch ; for if the majority of Perch taken 

 from the river are females, the balance of 

 the sexes is probably seriously disturbed. 

 Walter M. Gallichan. 



