FISHES OF THE WEST. 321 



arate and distinct froin the others. I have seen large fish dart at 

 them, when they would endeavor to fly away together, no one 

 leaving his kindred until the affectionate faniily is scattered. Even 

 then they will make an effort to re-unite, but no doubt some of the 

 little fellows have been forever separated from the family circle. 

 They will thus remain together the whole of the first season, unless 

 broken up by their enemies. These observations have many times 

 intensely interested me. I am aware, however, that this is a habit 

 characteristic of the young broods of some other fish, especially of 

 the Labracins, or basses. The habitat of the adult, or if you please, 

 its accustomed feeding grounds in summer, has been a more 

 difficult matter to determine. In running water I should look for 

 them exactly where I would look for trout ; but in lakes they seem 

 to remain in no one place any length of time. As long as I have 

 angled for these fish here, I can never determine beforehand 

 where I am going to find them. The same pickerel and bass 

 grounds hold good year after year, and we always know what to 

 expect when we visit these places. Not so with the pike-perch. 

 One day you will find them near shore, next in deep water, and the 

 next at the mouths of creeks or sloughs. The most are caught off 

 the ends of points in ten to twenty feet of water. Sometimes they 

 are found very near the shore rolling and sporting in the waves. In 

 this case the bottom is always gravelly and stony. They seem to 

 abhor, an abrupt rocky shore. Once my friend Mr. Gibbs struck a 

 large school (they seldom are found in schools) sporting in huge 

 waves so near the shore that his cast could reach them with ease. 

 The wind was blowing (in shore) a regular gale, and the water, 

 when still, could not have been more than two feet. They seemed 

 to be holding a jubilee, but, poor fellows, destruction overtook 

 many of them, and those that were left must have mourned for 

 their brethren " for they were not." 



With the brook chub {Erimyzon oblongum,) for bait, Mr. 

 Gibbs took, in a little over an hour, so many that he was obliged 

 to get a wheelbarrow with which to take them home. The load 

 was so heavy that he was actually obliged to get help before he 

 could reach his house three-quarters of a mile distant. When I 

 ha"e heard him mention this trip he would puff and blow as though 

 he was living the scene over again. Frequent and subsequent 

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