THE PERCH 225 



is slow, and are fond of swimming near beds of 

 reeds, or where there are sunken trees or piles 

 driven into the water, places where the fry of other 

 fish are to be found. In Norfolk they rather like 

 a little salt water, and the largest are said to be 

 taken where the water begins to turn brackish. 

 They are bold and voracious, and in the summer 

 months rove in company over the shallows in active 

 pursuit of their prey, which consists of worms, 

 insect larvae, shellfish, etc., and of little fish such 

 as Minnows, Gudgeon, and Bleak, and the fry of 

 other species ; it is especially in the early morning 

 and in the evening that they go in search of food, 

 whilst in the middle of a warm day a whole troop 

 may often be seen lying motionless in mid-water, 

 or sometimes quite near the surface; in the winter, 

 however, they keep to the deep water and feed 

 only in the middle of the day. If it lacks caution 

 the Perch makes up for it in courage, and when 

 of any size is well able to take care of itself, 

 erecting its dorsal spines and facing the foe which 

 threatens an assault. 



In the spring the Perch forsake the deeps wherein 

 they have passed the winter, and migrate in shoals 

 to sandy or gravelly shallows, selecting places 

 where reeds or rushes grow in the water or 

 where there are sunken branches. Here they 

 breed, the season varying from March to May 

 according to the locality and the weather. The 

 roe is held together by a membrane, and the 

 females rub against a stone or twig or amongst 

 the reeds, until the end of the band of eggs has 

 become attached, and then dart forward, twisting 

 from side to side so that the roe comes out in a 



