AMERICAN INSTITUTE. 443 



their fore claws in the corner of each eye, and clinging with their 

 hind legs. If this position is well taken, it is utterly impossible 

 for the pickerel to disencumber himself, until the frog is willing 

 to depart, which he usually consents to do when the fish approaches 

 near enough to the shore to permit him to leap upon it. Pickerel 

 grow faster than other fish in my ponds, making eight inches the 

 first year, ten the second, fourteen the third, and twenty the fourth. 

 I am convinced that an acre pond, well stocked with pickerel, 

 would yield more profit than a ten acre lot under ordinary culti- 

 vation. They are remarkably tenacious of life, and live a long 

 time after being taken from the water, and will snap at any object 

 presented. It attains a great age and immense size if unmolested 

 and well fed. 



The Yellow Per ch^ {Perca Flavescens,) is a bold fish of prey, and 

 like the pickerel, has a large mouth, well filled with teeth, a hog 

 back, armed with two strong, sharp fins, which makes him a for- 

 midable prey for other fish. His outer covering consists of hard, 

 thick scales. Like the pickerel, he will eat his own progeny. 

 As food, he is considered more wholesome than any other fish 

 His growth is slow, and he breeds but once a year. I have noticed 

 one remarkable peculiarity connected wdth this fish, and that is, 

 that if a dozen are found in a hole, they wall all bite, one after 

 the other, and allow^ themselves to be caught; being, like most 

 men, unwilling to receive the experience of their companions. 

 Tliey are gregarious during nearly tlie whole year, and grow, 

 under favorable auspices, to a large size and elegant proportions. 

 This fish is universally known throughout Europe and this coun- 

 try, and the remarkable manner in which its eggs have been dis- 

 tributed has led to curious hypotheses. Some suppose them to 

 be of spontaneous birtli. Some years since I constructed a pond, 

 but did not put any fish in it, and you may imagine my surprise 

 when I found therein perch, sun-fish, eels, bullheads, shiners, 

 trout and sea-bass, without my agency, and all within two years. 

 Whence did they come ? Birds were the undoubted agents, and 

 it is to them Lake Erie is indebted for the herring, striped 

 rock and white sea-bass, and other fine fish. They have distri- 

 buted the eel throughout the known world, and frequently carry 



