Page:British Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fresh-water Fishes.djvu/125

PERCH Unlike the Three-Spined Stickleback (the male of which is red underneath, and the female pale yellow, during the breeding season), the Ten-Spined lacks these brilliant colours and becomes dark brownish.

Perch.—Perca fluviatilts (Fig. 60). This hump-backed tenant of our rivers, lakes, and other sheets of water is one of the handsomest of all with its rough bronze-green body, dark back, and vertical bands, and very prickly front dorsal fin which begins almost above the head. The Perch wanders about in shoals, and is so ravenous

that, when on the feed, the whole number can be caught in a very short time. Even if a hook is lost, the same fish may be re-captured with the missing hook inside its mouth. It is a bold-biting and game little fish, and one is often deceived at the smallness of the specimen that has shown so much fight before being landed. The larger fish are more wary, but even so, I have had splendid bags of Perch which have weighed an average of 2 pounds each. Larger specimens weighing 3 to 4 pounds have fallen to my rod, but the maximum weight is heavier than this. 107