64 Bass, Pike, and Perch 



greatly esteemed and much sought after, as it 

 furnishes the opportunity to employ light trout 

 tackle in its capture, and with such gear it 

 affords fine sport. I have taken the blue sun- 

 fish in all waters from Wisconsin to Florida. 

 In the latter state many years ago I fished a 

 fresh-water lake on Point Pinellas, near St. 

 Petersburg, Florida, though there were but two 

 houses there at that time. I was using a very 

 light rod, and the fish were as large and round 

 as a breakfast plate, and moreover the gamest 

 and most beautiful in coloration of any blue gill 

 I had ever met. The characteristic blue was 

 replaced by a deep, intense, and brilliant purple, 

 shot with silvery and golden reflections. While 

 playing one on the surface, an osprey sat on a 

 dead pine watching with apparent concern and 

 eagerness. The fish made a stubborn resistance, 

 with much splashing. Then a strange thing 

 happened. The fish-hawk swooped down and 

 seized the fish and attempted to fly away with 

 it. Perhaps the hook became fast to his claw, 

 but at any rate he circled around and around 

 the pond, tethered to my line. It was the first, 

 last, and only time that I did the aerial act of 

 playing a bird on the wing. After a few seconds 



