TAUTOG, CHOGSET AND PARROT-FISH. 291 



drifted upon the beach at Block Island, and along the southern shores of 

 Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and a similar catastrophe took place in 

 1S41. In March, 1875, it is stated that as much as a ton was thrown 

 ashore in the drift ice at Cuttyhunk. They were seen floating by the Hen 

 and Chickens light-ship for three successive days. In Southern New 

 England they become torpid in November and December. It is stated 

 that they are sometimes caught as late as Christmas. It is probable that 

 many do not enter upon a state of complete torpidity, but remain in a par- 

 tially active state in deep holes not far from the shore, and that it is these, 

 rather than the hibernating individuals, which are especially liable to 

 injury from the cold. A few are taken in Rhode Island in midwinter, 

 both by line and in lobster-pots. North of Cape Cod they are rarely 

 taken except in summer,* while towards the southern limit of their range 

 they are apparently as abundant in winter as at any other time. Mr. 

 Nathan King, a Rhode Island fisherman, states that when the sun is very 

 hot the Tautog leaves the clear spots for shelter among the weeds and 

 rocks. 



As may be inferred from its haunts and from the character of its strong, 

 sharp teeth, the food of this consists of the hard-shelled mollusks and 

 crustaceans which are so abundant .among the rocks. In their stomachs 

 have been found, among other things, lobsters, crabs of various species, 

 clams, mollusks, squids, scollops, barnacles, and sand-dollars. Many of 

 the smaller mollusks they swallow, shells and all, ejecting the hard parts 

 after the flesh has been digested. The common bait for Tautog in the 

 spring is the clam, preferably the soft clam, for at this time the fishermen 

 say they have tender mouths. In the fall, crabs and lobsters are used, 

 the fiddler-crab and rock-crab being the favorites. They are sometimes 

 taken with a bait of marine worms. 



In Narragansett Bay and vicinity they spawn from the end of April 

 until August. 



The pound fishermen find them to be full of ripe eggs when they begin 

 to approach the shore in early summer. Mr. Christopher E. Dyer, of New 

 Bedford, has witnessed the operation of spawning in Buzzard's Bay in the 

 middle of June, in water about two fathoms deep. This was in 1859 or 

 i860, about two miles east of Seconnet Point. The number of eggs has 

 not yet been determined, nor is it known how long the period of incuba- 



* The first of the season were taken at Gloucester, May 13, 1881. 



