322 THE SEA SHORE 



The young subsist on this store of food for from twelve to twenty 

 days, during the whole of which time they remain under shelter, 

 having, of course, no need to expose themselves to the numerous 

 enemies with which they are surrounded, and they then leave their 

 hiding-place in search of food, being now about an inch in length. 

 They feed on aquatic and other insects, which are now becoming 

 plentiful on the approach of the warm weather ; and, growing 

 rapidly, reach a length of four inches in a month or two. They are 

 now called parr, and are distinguished by the dark bars that cross 

 their bodies transversely a feature that persists for a year or more 

 from this time. 



Towards the end of May the parr migrate seawards, accom- 

 panied by the adult salmon, but as their enemies include the 

 voracious fishes, wading birds, and even the adults of their own 

 species, it is probable that only a small proportion of the original 

 number ever enter salt water. 



In the sea they feed on crustaceans, molluscs, and small fishes, 

 the young still growing rapidly, and attaining a weight of about five 

 pounds in the following autumn, when both young (now called 

 grilse) and old again ascend the rivers to spend the colder half 

 of the year ; the former will have reached a weight of ten pounds 

 or more on their return to the sea in the following year. 



The Smelt may be seen in thousands in our estuaries during the 

 spring, for at that time they come up to spawn in the brackish 

 water. In the summer they swim about in shoals along the coast, 

 and are caught largely in nets for the market. In some parts 

 they are taken in large shallow circular nets suspended on a line. 

 This is lowered into the water, and hauled up when the fish are 

 seen swimming above it. Many amateurs secure numbers of 

 smelt by means of rod and line, fishing from piers, jetties, &c. 

 They bite freely at almost any kind of bait, and will snap at an 

 almost bare hook, with the tiniest fragment of the bait at its 

 point. 



The Herring family (Clupeidce) contains some well-known food- 

 fishes to which we need only casually refer. They are mostly 

 littoral species, none inhabiting deep water, and none straying into 

 the open ocean. Their bodies are covered with silvery scales, and 

 are laterally compressed, so much so on the ventral side that there 

 is a moderately sharp ridge along the middle line. The principal 

 fishes of the family are the Herring (Clupea harengus), the Sprat 

 (C. sprattus), and the Pilchard (C. pilchardus). 



