February, 1921 
FOREST AND STREAM 
73 
season they will be found at still more 
shallow depths. Whether they return 
to deeper water during the winter has 
not been definitely determined. It is 
known that they are in relatively shal- 
low water during the spring where they 
remain until in June, or early in July; 
then they go to deeper water. 
T HERE is another seasonal move- 
ment from greater to lesser depths 
and back again, that is probably 
not related in any way to the oxygen 
content of the water, but which is 
caused chiefly by temperature differ- 
ences. This manifests itself in a num- 
ber of ways, of which a few illustra- 
tions may be given: The little stickle- 
back, Eucalia inconstans, prefers rela- 
tively cold water. During the summer 
and early fall they may not ordinarily 
be found in water less than 15 to 20 
feet in depth; indeed, they seem to go 
down to the depths which mark the 
maximum for Chara and other aquatic 
vegetation. In all of our summer sein- 
ing operations about the lake only one 
stickleback wap obtained; but in the 
late fall and during the winter, speci- 
mens were frequently obtained when 
dredging in 4- to 12-foot water. Dur- 
ing summer dredging they were found 
only in considerably greater depths. 
Evidently these little fish remain dur- 
ing the warm summer months at con- 
siderable depths, and some, not all, come 
out into shallower water only when the 
temperature there has become equally 
cool. 
Then again, young of many of the 
fishes of the lake, especially basses, 
bluegills and perch, are found in great- 
est abundance during the summer in 
shallow water near shore where they 
not only find protection in the masses 
of vegetation which they inhabit but 
where they also find an abundant sup- 
ply of suitable food. But as fall comes 
on, and the shallow water near shore 
becomes more and more cold until finally 
near the freezing point, these young 
fishes move out into deeper and slight- 
ly warmer water and secrete themselves 
in the masses of Chara, Nitella and 
other vegetation. There they spend the 
winter, returning to shallower water in 
the spring. 
S TILL another movement occurs late 
in the fall, usually not until after 
the first frosts have come, when 
several species of small fishes gather up 
in unusual numbers in shallow water 
along the shore. The species most con- 
cerned are the straw-colored minnow 
( Notropis blennius) , the Cayuga min- 
now, ( Notropis cayuga), the blunt- 
nosed minnow ( Pimephales notatus) , 
the skipjack ( Labidesthes sicculus) , the 
grayback minnow (Fundulus diaphanus 
menona), and the log perch ( Percina 
caprodes) . Each of these species is 
found at all times in greater or less 
numbers pretty well distributed in shal- 
low water everywhere along shore. But 
in the fall they gather up in schools. 
Sometimes these schools are of immense 
size, containing many thousands of in- 
dividuals. The different species men- 
tioned are present numerically usually in 
the order named, and there will be 
along with them a few individuals of 
several other small fishes, chiefly Cy- 
prinidae. Usually the skipjacks and log 
perch school by themselves. The log 
perch schools come earlier than the 
others; in 1913, they were first noticed 
in large numbers on October 3, when a 
school of 100 to 200 or more was seen 
at Johnson’s pier on Long Point. They 
were lying quietly on the clear sandy 
bottom or moving slowly about in shal- 
low water. The same school was ob- 
served on several subsequent days. On 
the same day, October 3, a large school 
of skipjacks was seen near the same 
place. Others were seen later and con- 
tinued to be noted as opportunity af- 
forded so long as our observations were 
kept up, or until October 31. 
T HE very large schools of small 
fishes that may be seen along the 
shore in the fall consist, however, 
chiefly of the species of Notropis men- 
tioned, particularly Notropi blennius 
and N. cayuga, and do not appear until 
some time later. Perhaps the largest 
to water-dogs which crawl up close to 
shore and devour the fishes in consid- 
erable numbers. It may be a reaction 
to temperature. 
T HERE is still another movement 
that occurs daily during the sum- 
mer and early fall. We refer to 
the coming of bass and other fishes into 
shallow water at night. This is a well- 
marked movement and occurs more or 
less evidently every still night in sum- 
mer, especially in August and Septem- 
ber. The species that participate are 
both large- and small-mouth black bass, 
rock bass, yellow perch, wall-eyed pike, 
dogfish and even suckers and catfish. 
This movement is clearly a factor in the 
feeding habits of the species concerned; 
they evidently come at night into shal- 
low water along shore for the purpose 
of feeding upon the young and small 
fishes and other life found there, espe- 
cially insects which oviposit in the 
water surface near shore. 
For this reason seining operations 
along shore at night were always inter- 
dfcvjti 
A muskrat’s winter house, Bristol County, Mass. 
schools ever noted by us were seen on 
November 5, 1907. On that day the 
shallow water on the east side of Lost 
Lake was alive with small fishes all the 
way from the Bardsley cottage to the 
south end of the lake. More than a 
bushel were caught at a single haul 
with a 12-foot seine. There were actu- 
aly millions of them, chiefly Notropis 
cayuga. In other places Notropis blen- 
nius was the most abundant species. 
These schools seen in the fall vary 
much in size, from small to very large. 
They are seen to best advantage on 
still, bright sun-shiny days, even when 
the air is quite cold. They are seen 
most often about or under piers or 
boats. 
We are unable at this time to explain 
why these small fishes collect in schools 
and come out into shallow water in the 
fall. It evidently has no relation to 
their feeding habits or their breeding 
habits; nor does it appear to be for 
the purpose of getting away from the 
bass and other carnivorous fishes; as a 
matter of fact many of them fall prey 
esting, because species could then be 
gotten which could not ordinarily be 
found there in day time. 
The intelligent anglers, well aware of 
this habit, particularly of the large- 
mouth bass and the wall-eyed pike, will 
be found trolling or casting near shore 
in the evening. And the enthusiasts 
who fish after dark know that it is 
worth while to do their casting and 
trolling near shore at the edges of the 
rushes and other vegetation. — Evermann 
& Clark, in “Lake Maxinkuckee.” 
AN ACCIDENT IN NATURE 
To the Editor of Forest and Stream: 
I AM writing of an accident I ob- 
1 served while on a fishing trip this 
summer on a Michigan Lake. 
Among grass near shore and in about, 
one foot of water, a fish was seen 
floundering about helpless, and could 
make no headway in escaping. It ap- 
peared to have two large flabby whitish, 
fleshy masses on each side of its head 
(continued on page 95) 
