THE WHITE PERCH 



sometimes ready to take a small shrimp or other 

 suitable bait without much ceremony, but occa- 

 sionally leaving a locality suddenly when the feed- 

 ing-grounds are disturbed by seines. 



At the beginning of the fishing-season the perch 

 follows its food, to the limits of the tide-ways. 

 During summer, on the ebb tide, it is in deep water, 

 on sandy or rocky bottoms or mussel-beds, or 

 around submerged wrecks and stone piles. On the 

 flood it moves along the margins of creeks and 

 rivers, following the minnows into the water-plants 

 wherein they find a home and partial shelter. Al- 

 though usually living upon animal food the perch 

 sometimes appears to take brackish-water seaweeds 

 into its stomach, perhaps for the sake of the small 

 shells and crustaceans found upon them. 



The spawning-season is in May and June. The 

 eggs are small and very adhesive; they number 

 about 40,000 to the fish of average size and are 

 hatched in three or four days. The first experi- 

 ments with artificial hatching were made before the 

 improved methods of separating the eggs were 

 understood, and. the results were far from satis- 

 factory ; yet some were hatched in six days in water 

 varying in temperature from 58 to 60 F. After 

 the spawning-season is ended the fish seek deeper 

 waters in which to recuperate. 



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