THE HERRING AND ITS ALLIES. 



199 



on fish identical with the Shad of England, Chtpeafinta. The first to give 

 to it a distinctive name was Alexander Wilson in the American edition of 

 Rees' Encyclopaedia. 



THE EUROPEAN" SHAD. 



It is very closely allied to the European species, but is a much finer fish. 

 The English care little for their shad, though in France the same species 

 is highly esteemed. 



The following account of our Shad is from the pen of Col. Marshall 

 MacDonald, who has made it a subject of special study for many years : 



The Shad is found along the whole Atlantic coast of the United States, 

 and its capture constitutes one of the most important fisheries in all the 

 streams draining into the Atlantic between the Gulf of St. Lawrence and 

 the St. John's River, Florida. 



It is but rarely seen on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, but occurs in 

 the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the various rivers of which it ascends as tar 

 north as the Miramichi, which seems to be its limit in that direction, none 

 having been seen in the Bay of Chaleur. 



Throughout its entire range the Shad is found in sufficient quantities to 

 give rise to fisheries of great commercial value. There is no run of Shad 

 in any of the rivers draining into the Gulf of Mexico, although the capture 

 of isolated individuals of this species has been reported from the Ala- 

 bama River and from .several tributaries of the Mississippi prior to any 

 steps towards the artificial propagation of Shad in these waters by the 

 United States Fish Commission. 



The geographical range of the Shad then was confined to the Atlantic- 

 coast of the United States until, by the operations of the United States 

 Fish Commission, its limits were vastly extended. Runs of Shad, suf- 

 ficiently large to be of commercial value, have been established in several 

 of the tributaries of the Mississippi River, notably the Ohio River ; and 

 the several plants made from time to time in the Sacramento River, on the 



