552 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
Fishes of Great Britain and Ireland (1880-1884, p. 160). To use his 
words: 
The fisherman finds this fish an adept at escaping from nets, by burrowing below 
it, or springing over the corks, . .. So difficult is it to net that . . . one can well 
understand the Norfolk pen-men regarding it with mysterious awe, how its entrances 
and its exits into pieces of water puzzle them, and how, as Lubbock remarks, they 
consider it as something more than a fish, and look upon it as what the Scotch term 
“no cannie.”’ 
Although I have spoken above of the carp’s habit of ordinarily swim- 
ming about lazily and quietly, this is by no means always the case, for 
these fish often produce a considerable disturbance by their splashing. 
‘This is when they are feeding in shallow water, and will be discussed 
more fully when we come to consider the feeding habits. They also 
splash about considerably at the breeding time. 
Carp exhibit a marked tendency to go about in schools. In regions 
where they are abundant, it is usual to find either a large number ina 
given locality, or else none at all. That these schools are frequently 
of great size is apparent from the fact that several tons of carp are 
often taken at a single seine-haul along the shore of the open lake, 
which is rather more conclusive evidence than is afforded when they 
are taken in a bay or other partially inclosed place. 
Moderately warm, shallow waters with abundance of aquatic vegeta- 
tion, and deeper places to which the fish can retreat, are the most favor- 
able conditions for carp, and it is in such places that they multiply 
fastest and obtain their most rapid growth. In the hilly eastern part 
of the United States localities of this kind are relatively scarce, but the 
rivers and lakes of the Southern and Middle States, with their exten- 
sive bayous and marshes, come very close to the ideal conditions. 
This suitability is abundantly evidenced by the rapidity with which 
carp have taken possession of them, and have become in them, it might 
almost be said, the dominant piscine type. Nevertheless they are by 
no means confined to these waters which meet their requirements to 
the best advantage, but seem to be able to adapt themselves to a variety 
of conditions, though with less suecess. ‘Thus we find them invading 
to a certain extent the colder and deeper waters of the Great Tees 
though a few fathoms is a great depth for them, and I have no dee 
to show that they go to any extent into the deeper waters. They will 
live in small ponds fed by springs, where the temperature of the 
water always remains very low, but in such places their growth is slow 
and they are by no means so prolific as in warmer waters. On the 
other hand, they may sometimes be found living in mudholes, where 
it would not seem that they could obtain enough food forewmtence and 
where the temperature must at times in summer become comparatively 
high. They will live, and apparently do well, in waters that are 
strongly mineral. I saw, for example, a carp non in northern Ohio 
