iuE pikE, 359 



Section XL 



Genus XLYlll.—l'he Pike. 



» 

 J. HIS tribe contains in it four fpecies of Eriiijh fifhes 5 

 namely, the comncion pike, the fea pike, the gar, and 

 the faury : They are all diflinguiflied, by having only 

 one dorfal fin near the tail ; by a long, flsnder body, la- 

 terally comprefTed ; and by the length of the lower jaWj 

 which projedts confiderably beyond the upper. In genc^ 

 ral, the fnout of this family is long, and flattened hori- 

 zontally ; the feales'are fmall, bony, and deciduous *. 



The moil remarkable part of the manners of thefe 

 filhes is their voracity. Almoft every kind of animal 

 that is not two large for its fwallovv, is indifcriminately 

 devoured by the common pike : even thofe of its own 

 fpecies are facrificed .1.0 its gluttony, as often as other 

 food is v»'anting to fatiate its ungovernable appetite. 

 Two inftances are mentioned of its being choaked, by at- 

 tempting to fwallow animals too large for its power of 

 deglutition : In the one, the animal expired in endea- 

 vouring to devour a pike nearly of its own fiz,e j the 

 other happened at the canal at 'Trentham^ where the pike 

 feized the head of a fwan, as flie was feeding under v/a- 

 ter, and gorged fo much of it as killed them bothf. 



K k 3 All 



* '"^u3i). Hift, p!fc. gen, 43, ■]■ Brit. ZooL gen. 34^ 



