THE CARP FAMILY. 121 



eggs are vivified^ in -warin weather, between the ninth 

 and fifteenth day. 



The spawners, so soon as they have recovered a little 

 strength, make their way into the swiftest stream they 

 can find, such as weirs, mill-tails, &c., to scour and brace 

 themselves, beginning to get into condition again in a 

 few weeks, and being in the best season for the angler 

 until September and October, when the frosty nights drive 

 them from the streams and shallows into the deeper waters. 

 Here they will be found until the spring; and ui these 

 quiet deeps and eddies they are to be caught, if any- 

 where, during the winter months. At this period, how- 

 ever, especially if the weather is very cold, it is of compa- 

 ratively little use to fish for them, as they lie in a sort of 

 semitorpid condition, and refuse to move. So inanimate 

 are they, that the fishermen not unfrequently provide 

 themselves with hoop landing-nets, which they place near 

 the Barbel, and with a pole literally push them in. Shoals 

 sometimes coUect under the shelter of a sunken punt or 

 other tidal obstruction, lying one over the other as closely 

 as they can pack, and when thus congregated are often 

 taken by being " hooked foul.'' I have also been assured 

 that boys and others who are good swimmers will dive into 

 the water and take them vrith the hand from under the 

 banks and holes. 



Barbel are numerous in many parts of the world j but 

 their natural habitat appears to be the warmer parts of 

 Europe, and it is stated by Cuvier that in localities favour- 



G 



