=Food of the Eel.=—Eels, in the words of Mr. W. H. Ballou, are "among the most voracious of carnivorous fishes. They eat most inland fishes, except the garfish and the chub. Investigation of six hundred stomachs by Oswego fishermen showed that the latter bony fish never had a place in their bill of fare. They are particularly fond of game-fishes, and show the delicate taste of a connoisseur in their selection from choice trout, bass, pickerel, and shad. They fear not to attack any object when disposed, and their bite in human flesh shows even a vicious attitude towards man. On their hunting excursions they overturn huge and small stones alike, working for hours if necessary, beneath which they find species of shrimp and crayfish, of which they are exceedingly fond. Of shrimps they devour vast numbers. Their noses are poked into every imaginable hole in their search for food, to the terror of innumerable small fishes." In the opinion of Mr. Ballou, too, "eels are to the water what the fishhawk is to the air. They are, perhaps, the most powerful and rapid of natatorians. Again, they hide in the mud beneath some log or overhanging rock, and dart out with tremendous fury at the unsuspecting prey. They attack the spawn of other fishes open-mouthed, and are even said to suck the eggs from an impaled female. They fearlessly and rapidly dive head-foremost in the mud, disappearing from view in the twinkling of a star. They are owl-like in their habits, committing many of their depredations at night. "No fish is yet reported to utilize a full-grown eel as food. Pickerel, garfish, and bass, which are particularly numerous in these lakes, are supposed to literally devour the young fry. Mr. Sawyer describes the operation of the pickerel darting through a long column of young eels open-mouthed and devouring vast numbers of them." =Larva of the Eel.=—The translucent band-shaped larva of the common eel has been very recently identified and described by Dr. Eigenmann. It is probable that all true eels, _Enchelycephali_, pass through a band-shaped or leptocephalous stage, as is the case with _Albula_ and other _Isospondyli_. In the continued growth the body becomes firmer, and at the same time much shorter and thicker, gradually assuming the normal form of the species in question. [Illustration: FIG. 102.—Larva of Common Eel, _Anguilla chrisypa_ (Rafinesque), called _Leptocephalus grassii_. (After Eigenmann.) ] In a recent paper Dr. Carl H. Eigenmann has very fully reviewed the life-history of the eel. The common species live in fresh waters, migrating to the sea in the winter. They deposit in deep water minute eggs that float at the surface. The next year they develop into the band-shaped larva. The young eels enter the streams two years after their parents drop down to the sea. It is doubtful whether eels breed in fresh water. The male eel is much smaller than the female.