178 SPINY-FINNED FISHES 



bass fights like a wild-cat, the sunfish can be taken on a bent 

 pin at the end of a cotton string; but observe this proportion: 



The Sunfish is to the Small Boy as the Black Bass is to the 

 Man. 



It is good to find in Nature a Family whose members run 

 from top to bottom in a stair-like series; for if so studied, the 

 natural secpence is a great aid to the memory. We there- 

 fore begin with the narrowest fish, and descend to the 

 broadest. 



Surely, the Black Bass, be his mouth large or small, is a 

 fish fit to head a Family. You can catch an eight-pound 

 yellow pike-perch, and think you have hooked a bunch of 

 weeds; but if you hook a two-pound Black Bass you know at 

 once that you have engaged a Fish. 



For its size, this is the bravest and the gamiest fish that 

 swims in our waters. In size and in silver the tarpon is truly 

 the silver king of game fishes; but if he had Black-Bass energy 

 and courage in proportion to his size, no hook-and-line angler 

 in a small boat would bring him alive up to the end of a 

 twelve-ounce rod. 



The Black Bass has the narrowest body and the darkest 

 color found in the Bass Family. It is built for speed and 

 strength, and colored for concealment. There are two species, 

 so very much alike that there is practically but one point of 

 difl^erence — the size of the mouth; and naturally their habits 

 are cjuite identical. It is important to remember, however, 

 that in color and markings, individuals vary most strangely 

 and unaccountably. Some are uniform dark and light; others 

 are mottled, much and little. 



