Nbs. 618-619] RESTOCKING INLAND WATERS 



33.-) 



while pursuing or swallowing prey; (4) the accidental 

 beaching while attempting to escape enemies; (5) disease 

 and parasites. 



These are the two most important of the recent obser- 

 vations on death in fishes. The size and general healthy 

 condition of the whitefish collected eliminate all but the 

 first cause given by Colbert. It is well known that white- 

 fish are easily killed by handling and do not have the 

 tenacity of life so characteristic of suckers or bullheads, 

 for example. The whitefish, although occupying the deep 

 basins of the lake, frequently come to the surface to play. 

 On a calm summer evening one can hear them as they 

 spring out of the water. The splashes which they make 

 are more numerous in the deep water, while the brook 

 trout are seen in shallow water near the mouth of the 

 brooks. This is a common habit of whitefish in Lake 

 Clear, especially during July and August. That they 

 come to the surface is also shown by the fact that at times 

 many are caught with not more than six or eight feet of 

 line. Their habit of coming to the surface makes it pos- 

 sible to see how wave actions might cause their death. 

 None of the other causes cited by the observer quoted 

 explains the death of these whitefish. In the detailed 

 study it was found that all of the dead whitefish collected 

 this summer were males, which renders it all the more 

 difficult to understand how wave action may be the only 

 cause of death. 



The following study of the stomach contents of these 

 dead whitefish throws a good deal of light upon their 

 food habits : 



Length 11* inches. Stomach and 

 a skeletons. The remains of three ] 



