=> BRITISH SPORTING FISHES. 



and by no means confine themselves to one 

 class of diet. They are fond of minute animal 

 organisms, worms, larvae, beetles, snails, and at 

 certain times they feed upon water-weeds. In 

 summer they rise well to several small flies, 

 though they prove rather a dead weight at the 

 end of a line. Red-worms furnish the best 

 general bait ; but a great variety of ingredients is 

 used for ground-baiting. When once a shoal of 

 fish has been attracted, it is difficult to alarm them, 

 and the fate of one member has often no deterrent 

 effect upon the rest. Spawning takes place in 

 April and May, and the number of ova in a single 

 fish has been known to number 100,000. Seeing 

 this, it is easy to understand the rate at which the 

 species reproduces itself under anything like 

 favourable circumstances. The bream grows 

 rapidly, and on account of its good qualities it 

 was much kept in stews in connection with the 

 religious houses of the past. The fish so kept 

 must have been specially tended and fed, and 

 those of the present day would hardly justify the 

 once popular proverb to the effect that, " The man 

 who had bream in his pond was able to bid 

 his friend welcome." By skilful cooking, bream 

 at their best can be made palatable, especially 

 at a time in autumn when they leave the mud and 

 weeds to feed almost exclusively upon delicate 



