Go BRITISH SPORTING FISHES. 
and by no means confine themselves to one 
class of diet. They are fond of minute animal 
organisms, worms, larvee, beetles, snails, and at 
certain times they feed upon water-weeds. In 
summer they rise well to several small flies, 
though they prove rather a dead weight at the 
end of a line. Red-worms furnish the best 
general bait; but a great variety of ingredients is 
used for ground-baiting. When once a shoal of 
fish has been attracted, it is difficult to alarm them, 
and the fate of one member has often no deterrent 
effect upon the rest. Spawning takes place in 
April and May, and the number of ova in a single 
fish has been known to number 100,000. Seeing 
this, it is easy to understand the rate at which the 
species reproduces itself under anything like 
favourable circumstances. The bream grows 
rapidly, and on account of its good qualities it 
was much kept in stews in connection with the 
religious houses of the past. The fish so kept 
must have been specially tended and fed, and 
those of the present day would hardly justify the 
once popular proverb to the effect that, “ The man 
who had bream in his pond was able to bid 
his friend welcome.” By skilful cooking, bream 
at their best can be made palatable, especially 
at a time in autumn when they leave the mud and 
weeds to feed almost exclusively upon delicate 
