8 FAMILIAR FISH, THEIR HABITS AND CAPTURE 



ever introduced from Germany into American waters. 

 It is not even a fair food fish — not sufiicientlj fine to 

 compensate for its great destruction of spawn. In 

 confined waters, especially, it will in a few years 

 absolutely exterminate all other fish by destroying 

 their eggs. 



Frogs, and some aquatic birds, too, feed upon 

 fish eggs, while wading and swimming birds dislodge 

 them from the beds, and thus cause them to be car- 

 ried away by the current and lost. Male trout have 

 often been seen upon a spawning bed, catching and 

 devouring the eggs almost as rapidly as they are 

 dropped by the female. This is common pi'actice 

 with other fish as well. But when the eggs that have 

 escaped destruction have in due time hatched out, 

 the enemies multiply. Young fish recently hatched 

 are called fry, and from that stage, during growth 

 until maturity, and even after, they are the natural 

 food of larger fish, even of their own kind. 



The fouling and jwisoning of streams and rivers 

 by the refuse from mills located upon them have 

 done much to destroy fish generally. This defilement, 

 together with the erection of dams without proper 

 fish ways, absolutely prevents fish from ascending to 

 the spawning beds. So serious had both of the^e 

 evils become some years ago, that the United States 

 Government, and most of the State governments 



