154 AMERICAN ANGLER'S BOOK. 



Izaak, as in his fancy he hears him discourse with his pupil, 

 under a honeysuckle hedge during a shower. 



The characteristics of this family are : the mouth slightly 

 cleft ; weak jaws, most frequently without teeth ; margin 

 of the jaws formed by the intermaxillaries. Pharyngeals 

 strongly toothed; lips fleshy. Branchial rays few. Body 

 scaly. One dorsal fin. Belly not compressed ; never serrated. 

 Intestinal canal short. The least carnivorous or predatory 

 of all fishes. There are nearly thirty genera, and over two 

 hundred species. 



THE SUCKEE. 



Catostomus communis : DE KAY. 



There are several species of the genus Catostomus known 

 by this common name ; they appear to be ubiquitous in the 

 streams of the Northern, Middle, and Western States, are less 

 numerous in the Southern, and are seldom found in those 

 states that border on the Gulf of Mexico. 



The Sucker cannot be called a sporting fish, yet the diffi- 

 culty of taking it with hook and line, and the nicety required 

 in fishing for it, makes the taking of it a matter of interest to 

 those who like to accomplish something difficult in angling. 

 As an article of food it is only esteemed when other fish are 

 scarce. 



When fly-fishing in the month of June, I have frequently 

 found them to collect in large numbers in some gentle current 

 to spawn ; then Trout are apt to lie at the lower end of the 

 school to catch the ova as it drifts down stream. At such 

 places the angler is sure of a good catch of Trout, which will 

 rise readily at the fly although they may be gorged with the 

 spawn of the Suckers. 



