64 Union Bay 



enough to ruffle the water surface and then it would drop 

 down slightly and leave it smooth again. I soon found that it 

 was composed of small fish held in a group by I do not know 

 what. If there was a mature fish guarding them, I did not 

 see it. They were closely packed in many layers so that the 

 total must have been much in excess of a thousand. They 

 moved slowly, fanning out at times, closing again, impressive 

 in their numbers. Small fish of most species are not easily 

 told apart except by experts but the identification of this 

 school offered no difficulties. Each was a miniature of the 

 mature fish: big head, smooth body, and dark in color. They 

 lacked the transparency and pale color of many young fish 

 and in the water showed as distinctly as India ink on white 

 drawing paper. They were catfish. 



They traveled close to the bank and through the sub- 

 merged plant growth and beneath the overhanging and 

 slowly swaying cattail leaves. In the open water they could 

 have been instantly spotted by a kingfisher, merganser, or 

 grebe, whereas in this shifting mixture of light and shadow 

 they had a much better chance to pass unnoticed. When I 

 got close to them they dived and scattered, but their dis- 

 persal was only momentary and they soon collected and 

 swam quietly along again. This instantaneous dispersal 

 served, I thought, to insure that no great paw of a bear 

 would scoop them up by the hundreds, and to prevent any 

 single blow from killing many of them. A fish would have 

 much work in collecting any number of these frightened and 

 scattered midgets. I let the canoe drift idly with them. Oc- 

 casionally one would come to the surface as if for air, but I 

 saw nothing to indicate that they were feeding. Indeed, 

 many people who were not informed would wonder how 

 these tiny things could find food at all. 



I have learned that, although it does not require extensive 

 knowledge to make superficial observations, there are certain 

 elementary scientific facts which must be understood before 



