196 KILDEER PLOVER.
primaries. Tail rather long, much rounded or graduated, of twelve rather
broad rounded feathers.
Bill black. Edges of eyelids bright red; iris dark brown. Feet
light greyish-blue, the hind part of the tarsus pale flesh colour. Upper
part of the head, the back, the smaller wing-coverts, and the secondary
quills, yellowish-brown. Lower parts white. A brown bar over the
lower part of the forehead, and passing under the eye to the occiput;
over this a white band on the forehead, surmounted by a brownish-black
band between the eyes ; behind the eyes also a short white band, ending
in light red. The middle of the neck is encircled with a broad brownishblack
collar, and on its lower part anteriorly between the wings is a narrower
band of the same colour. Primaries brownish-black, each with a
white mark, linear on the outer, enlarging on the inner quills. Secondaries,
excepting the inner, white, but most of them with a large patch of
blackish-brown towards the end; their tips and those of most of the primaries
white, as are those of the primary and secondary coverts. Rump
and upper tail-coverts bright yellowish-red. Tail-feathers of the same
colour at the base, the middle feathers brown, all with a broad subterminal
band of black, the tips white, those of the four middle feathers pale
reddish ; the outer feather on each side white, with three black bands on
the inner web.
Length to end of tail 10 inches, to end of wings 9, to end of claws 9^;
extent of wings 20 ; wing from flexure 6-}2 ; tail 4 ; bill along the back { §,
along the edge tarsus 1 \ ; middle toe its claw 3
. Weight
T T
g 5f ounces.
Adult Female in summer. Plate CCXXV. Fig. %
The Female resembles the Male.
;
( 197 )
THE WHITE PERCH AND ITS FAVOURITE
B A I T .
No sooner have the overflowing waters of early spring subsided within
their banks, and the temperature become pleasant, than the trees of our
woods are seen to unfold their buds and blossoms, and the White Perch,
which during the winter has lived in the ocean, rushes up our streams,
to seek the well-known haunts in which it last year deposited its spawn.
With unabating vigour it ascends the turbulent current of the Mississippi,
of which, however, the waters are too muddy to suit its habits; and
glad no doubt is it to enter one of the numberless tributaries whose limpid
waters are poured into the mighty river. Of these subsidiary waters
the Ohio is one in whose pure stream the White Perch seems to delight;
and towards its head springs the fish advances in numerous shoals, following
the banks with easy progress. Over many a pebbly or gravelly bar
does it seek its food. Here the crawling mussel it crunches and devours;
there, with the speed of an arrow, it darts upon the minnow; again, at
the edge of a shelving rock, or by the side of a stone, it secures a crayfish.
No impure food will " the Growler'" touch ; therefore, reader, never
make use of such to allure it, otherwise not only will your time be lost,
but you will not enjoy the gratification of tasting this delicious fish.
Should you have no experience in fishing for perch, I would recommend
to you to watch the men you see on that shore, for they are excellent
anglers.
Smooth are the waters, clear is the sky, and gently does the stream
move,—perhaps its velocity does not exceed a mile in the hour. Silence
reigns around you. See, each fisher has a basket or calabash, containing
many a live cray; and each line, as thick as a crow quill, measures scarce
a furlong. At one end two perch hooks are so fastened that they cannot
interfere with each other. A few inches below the reaching point of the
farthest hook, the sinker, perhaps a quarter of a pound in weight, having
a hole bored through its length, is passed upon the line, and there secured
by a stout knot at its lower extremity. The other end of the line is fastened
ashore. The tackle, you observe, is carefully coiled on the sand at
the fisher's feet. Now on each hook he fixes a cray-fish, piercing the shell
beneath the tail, and forcing the keen weapon to reach the very head of