380 GA.UE FTSff OF XORTH AMERICA. 



that it is a distinct variety from the northern pike. It grows ta 

 the length of two feet and more. 



Pickerel. — Esox reticulaius ; E. raveiulii. Holbrook. 



Body above olive brown, often with a greenish tint ; belly 

 silvery ; sides pale silver grey with dusky bars more or less ob- 

 lique ; fins red. In some waters its general color is quite dark. 

 It is found in small streams of fresh water, and in canals about 

 rice fields ; seldom in larger or more rapid waters. Seldom grows 

 ' to the length of a foot, and is found in small streams of fresh water, 

 ponds, and in canals or about rice fields. It is a great nuisance 

 ever^-where, as it is an inveterate eater of spawn and small fry. 

 This fish is everywhere confounded with the pike, which, although 

 of the same origin, is of a far nobler race. 



HYODONTID^. 

 River Moon-eye ; mud shad. — Hyodon tergisus. Le Suenr. 



Similar to the Western species. Body compressed, back very 

 slightly arched. Scales large. Head small ; eyes very large, 

 nearly filling up the whole space between the angle of the jaws 

 and the upper part of the head. Back bluish ; sides silvery ; fins 

 tinged with yellow. Length nine inches. It seems to be little 

 esteemed for food, being considered bony and unsavory. It is 

 frequently confounded with the Hickorj- Shad. 



CLUPEID^. 



Shab. — Ah)sa sapidissitna. Storer. — A . preestahilU. De Kay. 



The shad season in the St. John River is from December first 

 until about the 8th of April. They appear in that and other rivers 

 on their way to the upper lakes and creeks to spawn. When they 

 come in they are fat and go mto all parts of the rivers, returning 

 poor and lean in June, keeping the channels. The shad are found 

 in the Mississippi fourteen hundred miles above its mouth, and in 

 many of its tributaries. In the Washita River, Arkansas, they 

 begin to appear about April 5th, and run until May 12th. In 

 China they are known to ascend the Yang-tse-kiang more than 

 four thousand miles. 



