 1876.] Johnny Darters. 337 
_ Soon think of filling my pan with wood-warblers. The good man 
goes a-fishing not for “ pot-luck,” but to let escape “the Indian 
within him.” 
Their small size, brilliant coloration, quaintness, and hardiness 
render the darters very desirable aquarium fishes, much more- 
attractive in every respect than the cheap and vulgar gold-fish. 
: They are little known even to naturalists; few of them have 
‘ ever been figured, and the biography of none ever written, so we 
= hope tHat this attempt to tell the story of some that we know may 
: not be unattractive to those who can see something more in a 
| little fish than a possible dinner to themselves or to a king-fisher. 
(Fig. 22.) PERCINA. 
The barred darter or log perch (Percina caprodes; Figure 22 
represents a species of Percina) is the largest of the Etheosto- 
moids. It may be most readily known by its superior size and 
by its peculiar pattern of coloration. The ground color is pale 
olive, darker above, silvery beneath; on this are about fifteen 
black vertical bars or incomplete rings, alternating more or less 
Petlectly with as many shorter ones, which reach only half-way 
own or to the lateral line ; the hindmost bar is reduced to a 
mere spot at the base of the caudal, and there are many black 
specks and mottlings on the fins. The body is long and slender, 
nearly cylindrical, and firm and wiry to the touch ; the dorsal 
ns are large, and the first consists of about thirteen spines ; the 
head is flat on top and tapers into a flat, pointed snout, which 
s abruptly Squared off at the end, much overlapping the small 
mouth, after the fashion of the pig. The lateral line, as in all 
the species mentioned in this article, is perfectly distinct from the 
li. 
Rit SA er ean Fo > Soe E eA ead 
head to the tail 
Percina reaches a length of six or eight inches, and it may be 
teadily caught with a hook baited with a worm. I often meet 
urchin with one or two of them strung through the gills on a 
forked stick, along with “red eyes,” “stone toters,” and other 
“ boys’ fish.” At such times, I generally buy the log perch for 
à cent, cut it open to look at the air bladder which the books 
VOL. x. — No, 6, 29 
