600 REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF FISHERIES. 
was traversed daily by the carp in their search for food. Moreover, 
in the shore zone of the bay where the black bass were studied I 
found nests of an unidentified species of sun-fish or bluegill, and this 
was in the regular beat of the carp. The owners of these nests always 
left them upon my approach before I could get a good view of them, 
and immediately after their departure a number of small fish which 
had been swimming about in the neighborhood pounced in and began 
devouring the eggs. I succeeded in securing a few of these while 
they were committing their depredations. Those I captured were 
asmall perch (Perca jflavescens), a related form sometimes known as 
log-perch or hog-perch (Percina caprodes), and a small minnow 
(Notropis whipple: *). All had their mouths and gullets crammed with 
egos from the temporarily deserted nest. Here we have a suggestion 
as to one of the important factors that may tend to reduce the number 
of bass. At the St. Clair Flats, owing to the cold water brought down 
from Lake Huron, the bass usually spawn considerably later than they 
do in the interior waters of the state, which become warm more quickly. 
This is so late, in fact, that the close season prescribed by the law does 
not protect them at the time they are spawning, and as a consequence 
great numbers of them are taken by the bass fishermen directly off 
their nests. In addition, many are also speared, contrary to law, by 
certain lawless residents of the region. The poacher approaches as 
close as possible in a duck boat to the bass as it guards its nest, and 
when within long range throws his long-handled grain. Undoubtedly 
more bass are hit in this way than are actually secured, for I have 
seen numbers of them dead along the shore which showed the marks 
of the spear upon them. What the consequence is as soon as the 
parent fish is removed it is easy to see. Good food does not lie 
around unprotected long when there are hungry fish in the vicinity, 
and it is very probable that if a carp happened along at this time he 
would not hesitate to avail himself of the opportunity, for a familiar 
proverb might well be perverted to apply—all is food that comes to 
the carp’s mouth. 
in summing up with regard to the damage done by the carp to the 
spawn of other fish, especially the black bass, we find that there is lit- 
tle in the nature of direct observation, but what there is seems to 
point to the conclusion that there is little danger to the eggs of these 
other species so long as they are being guarded by the parent fish. 
That the carp does eat spawn when occasion presents is not denied 
even by Doctor Bartlett, the carp’s greatest friend. He says, in the 
Transactions of the Thirtieth Annual Meeting of the American Fish- 
eries Society, 1901 (p. 120): 
In order that I might know positively what amount of injury had been done by 
the introduction of the carp into the waters of the Illinois, I took occasion when 
aThis minnow was kindly identified by Mr. T, L. Hankinson. 
