THE PERCH. 
117 
and enthusiastic follower of Walton, taken from the Buffalo 
Commercial Advertise?, will, though rather out of order in 
this place, be fully appreciated by the perch angler. 
“ The Yellow Perch. This beautiful and active fish is 
almost omnipresent in the fresh waters of the Northern 
States. There are probably two distinct but similar species 
in our country, blended together under this common name. 
The perch of New England differs from ours principally in the 
shape of the head. In the Saratoga Lake, Owasco Lake, Cayu- 
ga Outlet, the Flats of Lake Huron, and many other localities, 
the perch is larger than with us, frequently weighing three 
pounds. Among the perch of our streams and river, a half 
pounder is a very portly citizen — though on a few particular bars 
they are sometimes taken in considerable numbers, averaging 
nearly a pound each. It is almost always to be had, from 
earliest Spring to the commencement of Winter ; and when 
poor Piscator has had all his lobsters taken by the sheeps- 
head, and utterly despairs of bass, he can, at any time, and 
almost any where, in our river, bait with the minnow and 
tho worm, and retrieve somewhat from frowning fortune, 
by catching a mess of perch. 
“ In the Spring, as soon as the ice has left the streams, tho 
perch begins running up our creeks to spawn. He is then 
caught in them in great plenty. About the middle of May, 
however, he seems to prefer tho Niagara’s clear current, and 
almost entirely deserts the Tonawnnda, and other amber 
waters. You then find him in the eddies, on the edge of 
swift ripples, and often in the swift waters, watching for the 
nmmow. As the water weeds increase in height, ho en- 
sconces himself among them, and, in mid-summer, comes out 
to seek his prey only in the morning and towards night. Ho 
Beem8 to delight especially in a grassy bottom, and when the 
black frost has cut down the tall water-weeds, and the moro 
delicate herbage that never attains the surface is withered, he 
