Tbe Perch Family 167 



lakes or ponds. In streams, early in the spring, 

 it frequently resorts to the edge or foot of riffles, 

 when feeding, but later prefers the deeper water 

 under mill-dams and about the submerged tim- 

 bers of bridges, and the still water under hollow 

 banks, or in the eddies of old logs, rocks, etc. It 

 is averse to a muddy bottom in fresh water, but 

 along the eastern coast it is often found on the 

 weedy shoals of shallow bays in brackish water. 

 In my boyhood days it was a prime favorite with 

 myself and companions. We sought it on the 

 mud-flats, among the water-plants, of the Patapsco 

 River, near Baltimore. It was there known as 

 " yellow Ned," and was considered a good pan-fish. 

 In Lake Michigan, after leaving its winter 

 quarters in the spring, it fairly swarms about the 

 piers and wharves of Chicago and other towns, 

 where it is caught by thousands by men, women, 

 and children with hand-lines, rods, and dip-nets. 

 It is a very predaceous fish and feeds principally 

 on small minnows and the young of other fishes, 

 also on crawfish, tadpoles, small frogs, insects, etc. 

 In large waters it grows to a pound or two in 

 weight, sometimes more. Usually it is much 

 smaller, a half-pound perch being a good-sized 

 fish in most localities. In midsummer, in weedy 



