112 Union Bay 



and produced sounds of varying intensity and quality. The 

 sounds vaguely resembled those which cattle made when 

 they crossed shallow water, but there were no animals to 

 be seen. Strangely enough, the splashes and movements had 

 little effect on the ducks, coots, and grebes, and only when 

 the activity came very near to them did they move away. 



I knew that this commotion often went on in spring for 

 hours at a time. I never observed that the time of day or 

 weather conditions affected it in any way. The presence of 

 the canoe was ignored if it moved slowly, but if I stopped 

 the activity close to me also stopped. The cause of the dis- 

 turbance would not puzzle a newcomer for long, because at 

 irregular but frequent intervals I saw the exposed upper 

 surfaces of heavily built fish whose clumsy structure, brown- 

 ish-yellow backs, and coarse scales were those of the species 

 known as carp. They threshed about, ran alongside each 

 other, ploughed through the reeds of the shallow water, 

 sometimes submerged, often partly exposed, but always stir- 

 ring up the mud and throwing water with the powerful 

 sweep of their tails. Frequently a third of their bodies showed 

 as they moved along, and at other times only the movement 

 of the water indicated that they were still in the vicinity. 



By then their purpose was apparent to me, as it would 

 have been to any other observer. They were there for their 

 annual spring spawning; the females were depositing their 

 eggs; the males were fertilizing them with their milt as thev 

 were laid. This was the annual gathering for the purpose of 

 perpetuating the species. All energies were concentrated on 

 this particular phase of their lives. Feed and rest would be 

 forgotten, and until the egg depositing was completed the 

 shallow spots of the marsh would be the scene of activity 

 which would begin slowly, increase to a stirring maximum, 

 and then abruptly die away. The older fish would leave, the 

 young would be hatched in this shallow water where they 

 would be comparatively safe from most of their enemies, and 



