v. 
PERCH, 
TuE armoured perch is certainly one of the 
handsomest of British fresh-water fishes. He 
is a bold biter, too, and affords sport to a whole 
army of anglers who have never flogged a trout- 
stream or fished a salmon river. His distribution 
is almost as wide as that of the Englishman, and 
he is as hardy as prolific. A large female fish will 
yield two hundred thousand eggs in a season, 
and as these hatch rapidly, the possible increase 
of the species may be imagined. Perch-fry, how- 
ever, have an army of aquatic enemies, which 
allow but a small number ever to reach maturity. 
There is a quiet confidence about the perch which 
renders observation of its habits both easy and 
interesting. If fed by hand they soon recognise 
their friend, and are punctual in their appearing. 
Looking down into the still, deep water, the 
first sign of the approach of perch is the sudden 
stampede of a shoal of silvery roach. The 
metallic scales of these flash in the sunlight; 
