THE PERCH 



[Pcrca fhiviatilis) 



The perch is distributed generally over Great Britain, and is a 

 very handsome hsh. Its back is olive-coloured, the sides yellow, the 

 belly white, and there are six well-defined dark bands along the sides. 

 The dorsal fin, the chiet weapon of defence, has twelve spines, 

 which often draw blood Ironi the unwary angler's hand. Below this 

 is another dorsal fin without spines. The ventral, anal, and tail fins 

 are tipped with scarlet. The scales are large and hard. The gill- 

 cover is also hard and bony and ends in a sharp point, which is also 

 used in defence. The flesh of the perch is excellent. 



Perch as a rule proceed in shoals and frequent quiet parts of a 

 river. Few are found in quick-running rivers. In many lochs they 

 simply swarm, and if lood is plentiful, grow to a large size. The 

 largest I have seen weighed 5 lbs. This one and others from 3 to 

 5 lbs. were caught in a small loch in Cambridgeshire. In Scotland 

 they seldom exceed 3 lbs. in weight, the average weight in many lochs 

 being about i 11). They spawn in May and are very prolific. The 

 ova, like that ot the pike, is attached to branches and weeds. By the 

 middle of August the perch fry are about an inch long and sport 

 about in large shoals. Trout and other fish feed much upon them, 

 and I have frequently caught trout whose stomachs contained many 

 perch fry. It is interesting to watch trout devouring these fry. One's 

 attention is usually drawn to them by seeing a number of terns dive 

 down into the loch, and on ajjproaching the scene of action one sees 

 the surface of the water all eddying and swirling with trout chasing 



