Distribution. 67 



those of the Alleghany region of the Carolinas, Georgia, 

 and Alabama), the large-mouth bass only occurs in the 

 lower portions of the streams. There are several rivers in 

 Hernando County, on the Gulf coast of Florida, that burst 

 out from the base of a sandy ridge running parallel with 

 the coast, and some twelve miles from it, whose sources are 

 large springs, fifty or sixty feet deep, and of half an acre 

 in extent. Their waters are remarkably clear and cool, 

 with a strong current until tide-water is reached; and I. 

 have no doubt but the small-mouth bass would thrive won- 

 derfully well in the upper portions of the streams if intro- 

 duced into them, as the conditions all seem favorable, and 

 the large-mouth bass is abundant in them. 



As we approach tide-water, the small-mouth bass dis- 

 appears. The large-mouth bass, however, true to his cos- 

 mopolitan nature, descends the streams to their mouths, 

 where he seems to be as much at home in the brackish 

 waters of the estuaries as in the pure and crystal rapids 

 of the highlands. 



The black bass being in a manner omnivorous, is prob- 

 ably not restricted in its range to any great extent by the 

 supply of any one article of his food, though it would be 

 affected, of course, by an abundance or scarcity of its food, 

 as a whole. Crawfish and minnows are the principal food 

 of adult black bass, and these are more or less plentiful 

 throughout the waters of the United States. In addition 

 to these, they feed upon insects, larvse, frogs, etc. The 

 greater prevalence of crawfish in clear, rocky streams, may 

 throw some light upon the preference of small-mouth bass 

 for such waters. 



The following account, by the late James W. Milner, 

 of the U. S. Fish Commission, of the introduction of the 

 black bass into new waters, will be found very interesting 



