50 AMERICAN SUN PERCH. 



This species, the Labrus auritus of Linnaeus, the Pomotis vulgaris 

 of Cuvier, seldom exceeds five or six inches in length, but is rather 

 deep in proportion. The usual size is from four to five inches, with a 

 depth of from two to two and a half. They are not bony, and at all sea- 

 sons afford delicate eating. Having observed a considerable change in 

 their colour in different parts of the United States; and in diflperent 

 streams, ponds, or lakes, I was led to think that this curious effect might 

 be produced by the difference of colour in the water. Thus, the Sun-fish 

 caught in the deep waters of Green River, in Kentucky, exhibit a depth 

 of olive-brown quite different from the general tint of those caught in the 

 colourless waters of the Ohio or Schuylkill ; those of the reddish-coloured 

 waters of the Bayous of the Louisiana swamps, look as if covered with a 

 coppery tarnish ; and, lastly, those met with in streams that glide beneath 

 cedars or other firs, have a pale and sallow complexion. 



The Sun Perch, wherever found, seems to give a decided preference to 

 sandy, gravelly, or rocky beds of streams, avoiding those of which the 

 bottom is muddy. At the period of depositing their eggs, this preference 

 is still more apparent. The little creature is then seen swimming rapidly 

 over shallows, the bed of which is mostly formed of fine gravel, when after 

 a while it is observed to poise itself and gradually sink to the bottom, 

 where with its fin it pushes aside the sand to the extent of eight or ten 

 inches, thus forming a circular cavity. In a few days a little ridge is 

 thus raised around, and in the cleared area the roe is deposited. By wad- 

 ing carefully over the extent of the place, a person may count forty, fifty, 

 or more of these beds, some within a few feet of each other, and some se- 

 veral yards apart. Instead of abandoning its spawn, as others of the fa- 

 mily are wont to do, this little fish keeps guard over it with all the care 

 of a sitting bird. You observe it poised over the bed, watching the ob- 

 jects around. Should the rotten leaf of a tree, a piece of wood, or any 

 other substance, happen to be rolled over the border of the bed, the Sun- 

 fish carefully removes it, holding the obnoxious matter in its mouth, and 

 dropping it over the margin. Having many times witnessed this act of 

 prudence and cleanliness in the little sunny, and observed that at this pe- 

 riod it will not seize on any kind of bait, I took it into my head one fair 

 afternoon to make a few experiments for the purpose of judging how far 

 its instinct or reason might induce it to act when disturbed or harassed. 



Provided with a fine fishing-line, and such insects as I knew were re- 

 lished by this fish, I reached a sand-bar covered by about one foot of 



