Page:Natural History, Fishes.djvu/78

64 of five or six pounds in weight, are abundant in the lakes and rivers of Sweden, and afford good angling. The head of a Perch is said to be preserved in the church of Luehlah, in Lapland, which measures nearly twelve inches from the point of the nose to the end of the gill-cover, which, according to the proportion of parts in ordinary specimens, would give the enormous total length of four feet for this Fish. It is possible, however, that this may be the head of some other species.

Perch resort to pits, eddies, holes, the pillars of bridges, and mill-dams; they frequent the floors of staunches early in the morning, where they may be taken in great numbers at break of day, by means of a casting-net; in these places they work to meet the fresh water that oozes through.

The Perch has a tendency to ascend towards the springs of rivers, having a great repugnance to sea-water. It delights in clean swift streams with a gravelly bottom, not very deep; it is seldom found at a greater depth than a yard below the surface. It is tenacious of life, though perhaps less so than the Carp; it has been known to survive a journey of fifty miles, in the old days of travelling, when railways were unknown.

Like other "anglers' Fish," the Perch is not very often seen on the stalls of fishmongers in London. In Billingsgate market it is, however, sometimes exposed, especially on Fridays, as it is bought chiefly by Jews to form part of their Sabbath repast. We believe that this Fish is kept by the dealers in tanks, and that those which are not sold are frequently so little injured by