TWAITE SHAD. 211 



on a calm still evening or night the noise they make may be 

 heard at some distance. I have obtained the young only 

 two inches and a half long in October ; and suspect they 

 grow slowly, finding them only four inches long, and the 

 young of the larger Allice Shad only six inches long, in the 

 following spring. 



The habits and habitat of the two species of Shads have 

 probably been very frequently confounded. Though both 

 are common in the Severn during a particular season, Mon- 

 tagu has not noticed the appearance of either on the coast of 

 Devon : yet the Rev. Mr. Holdsworth sends me word that 

 Twaite Shad are very common on that coast and in the rivers ; 

 he has taken several at one time when whiffing with a light 

 running line for Mackerel in the mouth of the Dart. The 

 bait was a slice of a Mackerel. Both species have been 

 noticed on the Cornish coast by Mr. Couch, and one has 

 been taken near Dublin. I learn from Mr. Heysham that 

 both species have been taken on the west coast of Cumber- 

 land. On the eastern coast it is common in the Thames ; is 

 occasionally taken off Yarmouth, on the Norfolk coast, with 

 the Herrings, and also in the Tyne. Dr. Parnell says, " On 

 the coast of Scotland, the Twaite Shad receives the name 

 of Rock Herring. We observe this fish enter the Frith of 

 Forth in tolerable abundance towards the end of July, and 

 dozens are then taken in the Salmon-nets, at almost every 

 tide ; but after August we lose sight of them until the fol- 

 lowing season. It appears to have a considerable range to 

 the northward, both Professors Nilsson and Reinhardt in- 

 cluding 1 it among the fishes of Scandinavia. The food of the 



O O 



Shads is small fish and the softer-skinned Crustacea. 



The length of the head compared to the whole length 

 of the fish is as one to five ; the depth of the body rather 

 greater than the length of the head ; the distance from the 

 point of the nose to the commencement of the dorsal fin, mea- 



