FOREST, FISH AND GAME COMMISSION. 349 



lake far from shore ; while during the spring and late in the fall it comes in near 

 shore, where immense schools may be seen, and where it remains even until after 

 ice begins to form. When the fall storms come on, great numbers of this species 

 and the Grayback are carried ashore by the waves and left stranded. 



I have seen the Skipjack at various places in Lake Ontario and in Chau- 

 tauqua Lake, at which latter place it is absurdly believed to be the young 

 of the Muskallunge ! In some places it is called Silverside, Pinhead, or Top 

 Minnow. It is an elegant little fish, reaching a length of 3 or 4 inches, long and 

 slender and almost translucent, and always swimming in large schools and near the 

 surface. 



As a bait minnow it is not of high rank. It is exceedingly tender and can not 

 be kept alive. It is therefore not used as live bait, but is often used dead in fishing 

 for Yellow Perch, Bluegills, Crappie and Calico Bass. It is also sometimes used 

 for Wall-eyed Pike. The usual method is to place two or three or even more 

 small-sized Skipjacks upon the hook at once, passing the hook through the body 

 twice and thus doubling them up into a bunch. These, of course, are used only in 

 still-fishing. 



Head 41^ ; depth 6; eye 3^ ; D. IV-l, 11 ; A. I, 23 ; scales 75. 



Body very long and slender, and much compressed; head long, flattened above, 

 narrow below ; snout slender, conic, the jaws greatly prolonged, forming a short, 

 depressed beak; premaxillaries broad posteriorly, very protractile, produced for- 

 ward, the snout longer than the large eye ; edge of upper jaw strongly concave ; 

 teeth very slender, mostly in one series, forming a narrow band in front ; scales 

 small, thin, with entire edges ; spinous dorsal very small ; soft dorsal short ; anal 

 fin long ; caudal forked ; pectoral moderate ; first dorsal inserted somewhat behind 

 vent. 



Color, pale translucent olive-green ; a very distinct silvery lateral band, scarcely 

 broader than the pupil, bounded above by a dark line ; back dotted with black. In 

 the black water of lowland swamps the silvery band is underlaid with black. 



This little fish may readily be known from any other fresh-water species by its 

 very slender, almost transparent body, and its long pointed snout. 



150^ Percl), — Perciiia c^/r^a'^jr (Rafinesque). 



The Log Perch is one of the darters and belongs to the family of Perches or 

 PercidcB, the family to which belong the Wall-eyed Pike, the Sauger, Yellow Perch, 

 and nearly a hundred species of small, brightly-colored fishes known as darters. 



