Page:British Reptiles, Amphibians, and Fresh-water Fishes.djvu/69

INTRODUCTION for the table. The remains of fish-ponds dating from manorial and monastic days go to prove that fresh-water fishes and their consumption were more popular in those times than they are to-day. Of the anatomy of fishes it is not proposed to write at any length. The general appearance of a fish's body is familiar enough to young and old alike, and it will be agreed how well fashioned they are for the life they lead. Some, it is true, are less prepossessing than others. Some are quite good-looking, others are very much the reverse. Some are fast swimmers and expert hunters, others are of sluggish disposition, and seem resolved at all times to exert themselves as little as possible. Some delight to dwell in a shallow clear-running stream, others are only found in deep still pools where it is difficult to follow them in their home life. Some revel in a pond or stream where there is a profusion of mud, others much prefer a clean gravelly bed upon which to disport themselves. Some are rarely found far away from water containing an abundant supply of weeds actually growing in the environment, others are not averse to showing themselves in open situations well away from cover. Some species flourish in a stagnant pool (where there is nevertheless an abundant food-supply), some are quite out of their element except in a fast-flowing stream or river, others seem equally well at home in either. Some appear to congregate more near an outlet to the sea, such as an estuary, others seem to prefer a land-locked mountain tarn, so high up and so far away from any 53