NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. 243 



of herring, not young herring, but with milt and roe, approach 

 the Norwegian coasts, and are fished in considerable quantities." 

 Again, quoting Billing's expedition to the northern regions, he 

 says:— "The herring appear in great shoals in the bay of Avatska 

 towards the latter end of April, and remain till the beginning of 

 June. They seem to come in shoals in both spring and autumn, 

 there being a considerable difference in size, the spring herring 

 being much the largest." 



That different shoals of herring, in diflFerent conditions, frequent 

 the same ground about the same time, appears most likely, 



I am told that herring are generally fattest on a particular coast, 

 at a particular season of the year, but that does not hold good 

 with all the herring met with on that coast; some may be taken 

 at one time moderately poor, and in a few days afterwards a batch 

 may be met with loaded with fat. These facts are so far borne 

 out by the following observations made by myself this season. On 

 the 5th of November I had thirty herrings examined, and found 

 them all in similar condition, moderately fat; again, on the 8th of 

 the same month 60 more were examined from another take in the 

 same district, and all were found exceedingly fat. We cannot 

 well suppose that this difference of condition took place in 

 the few days interval between the dates on which the fish 

 were caught; the difference may be accounted for with greater 

 probability by ascribing it to a separate shoal of herring. From 

 this and the following reasons we may further infer, as a 

 somewhat likely thing, that herrings endeavour to preserve their 

 clanship. 



As regards herring caught in the same draught, if any of them 

 contain food, in general they all contain it, and that very frequently 

 of the same kind, whether it be large or small, a mess of entomos- 

 tracans, shrimps or fish, thus indicating that they have been 

 coursing over the same hunting-ground together. So far as I can 

 learn, or have personally observed, herring of the same take 

 in most cases are nearly in the same condition; from which we 

 may suppose that they have been sojourning for some considerable 

 time together, under similar or identical circumstances. 



As~Lo spawning, the prevailing opinion appears to be, that the 

 herring of the same coast all go to spawn at the same time, and as 

 soon as that office is performed they proceed to deeper water. 

 That this is true to some extent is most likely, but that it is 



