Clafs IV. 4 OMe art al OM ae °F 27% 
All writers who treat of this fpecies bring in- 
ftances of its vaft voracioufnefs. We have known 
one that was choaked by attempting to {wallow one 
of its own fpecies that proved too large a morfel. 
It does not confine itfelf to feed on fifh and frogs ; 
it will devour the water rat, and draw down the 
young ducks as they are {wimming about. Ina 
manufcript note which we found, p. 244, of our 
copy of Plott’s Hiftory of Staffordjhire, is the fol- 
Jowing extraordinary faé&t: “ At Lord Gower’s ca- 
“ nal at Trentham, a pike feized the head of a fwan 
«© as fhe was feeding under water, and gorged fo 
*© much of it as killed them both. ‘The fervants 
<< perceiving the {wan with its head under water for 
<< a longer time than ufual, took the boat, and found 
“© both fwan and pike dead*.” 
But there are inftances of its fiercenefs ftill more 
furprizing, and which indeed border a little on the 
marvellous. Geer ** relates, that a famifhed pike 
in the Rhone feized on the lips of a mule that was 
brought to water, and that the beaft drew the fith 
out before it could difengage itfelf. That people 
have been bit by thefe voracious creatures while they 
were wafhing their legs, and that they will even con- 
tend with the otter for its prey, and endeavour to 
force 1t out of its mouth+. 
Small fifth fhew the fame uneafinefs and detefta- 
tion at the prefence of this. tyrant, as the little 
: / \ 
* This note we afterwards difcovered was wrote by Mr. 
Plott, of Oxford, who affured me he inferted it on good au- 
thority. 
8* Golner pile. 503. + Walton. 157, 
birds 
