THE HERRING AND ITS AIIIES. 387 



ing general conclusions regarding their movements are deduced from the 

 statements of about two hundred observers at different points on the coasts 

 from Florida to Nova Scotia. 



At the approach of settled warm weather they make their appearance in 

 the inshore waters. It is manifestly impracticable to indicate the periods 

 of their movements except in an approximate way. The comparison of 

 two localities distant apart one or two hundred miles will indicate very 

 little. When wider ranges are compared there becomes perceptible a cer- 

 tain proportion in the relations of the general averages. There is always 

 a balance in favor of earlier arrivals in the more southern localities ; thus 

 it becomes apparent that the first schools appear in Chesapeake Bay in 

 March and April ; on the coast of New Jersey in April and early INIay ; 

 on the coast of New England in late April and May ; off Cape Ann about 

 the middle of May, and in the Gulf of Maine in the latter part of May 

 and the first of June. Returning, they leave Maine late m September or 

 in October ; Massachusetts in October, November and December, the 

 latest departures being those of fish which have been detained in the nar- 

 row bays and Creeks ; Long Island Sound and vicinity in November and 

 December ; Chesapeake Bay in December, and Cape Hatteras in January. 

 Farther to the south they appear to remain more or less constantly 

 throughout the year. 



The arrival of the Menhaden schools is closely synchronous with the 

 period at which the weekly average of the surface temperatures of the 

 harbors rises to 51° F., that they do not enter waters in which, as about 

 Eastport Me., the midsummer surface temperatures, as indicated by 

 monthly averages, fall below 51° F., and that their departure in the 

 autumn is closely connected with the fall of the thermometer to 51'' F. 

 and below. 



The arrival of the INIenhaden is announced by their appearance at the 

 top of the water. They swim in immense schools, their heads close to tlie 

 surface, packed side by side, and often tier above tier, almost as closely 

 as sardines in a box. A gentle ripjjle indicates their ])Osition, and this 

 may be seen at a distance of nearly a mile by the lookout at the masthead 

 of a fishing vessel, and is of great assistance to the seiners in setting their 

 nets. At the slightest alarm the school sinks toward the bottom, often 

 escaping its pursuers. Sailing over a body of Menhaden swimming at a 

 short distance below the surface, one may see their glittering backs 



